Li Mu was stunned by the sudden change in attitude of the director of the Ministry of Justice.
Mr. Mei's words meant for him to be arrogant in the Ministry of Justice so that he could use it against them.
Zhu Cong's repeated disregard of the law was an insult to the imperial court. If he didn't punish Zhu Cong and punished Li Mu instead, the consequences would be unimaginable.
If Li Mu didn't have a powerful background, he could only grit his teeth and bear with it.
However, he had the Empress and the Inner Guards behind him. If the Ministry of Justice really dared to punish him like that, he would be gone.
It could be said that as long as Li Mu was upright, he had nothing to fear in Luoyang.
The sudden change in attitude was obviously not what Mr. Mei wanted. Li Mu stood in the hall of the Ministry of Justice and looked at the Ministry of Justice's director. He said coldly, "You tell me to come, and I come. You tell me to leave, and I leave. Where do you think the hall of the Ministry of Justice is?"
How could a lowly official be so arrogant? However, there were orders from above. The director's face turned red and his breathing quickened. He calmed down after a long time and asked, "What do you want?"
Li Mu glanced at him and said, "Zhu Cong repeatedly disregarded advice and seriously endangered the safety of the people in Luoyang. How do you plan to punish him?"
The director closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his expression had returned to normal. He said, "Zhu Cong repeatedly dissuaded criminals by disregarding his orders. He will be beaten 40 times and fined 100 taels of silver. Constable Li Mu of Luoyang will enforce the law impartially. Although his methods were wrong, he still protected the dignity of the imperial court. He shouldn't be punished.
Zhu Cong opened his mouth and was about to speak when the director glared at him.
Li Mu asked, "You're not going to beat me?"
The director said, "You can leave."
Li Mu shook his head and said, "I'm not leaving."
The director's eyes were already red. He asked, "What will it take for you to leave?"
Li Mu pointed at Zhu Cong and said, "I'll leave after you finish the fight."
Sometimes, it takes two to clap. Li Mu felt that he was already arrogant enough. He had called the people of the Ministry of Justice dogs in the court of the Ministry of Justice, but the other party did not care at all. They even started to do things according to the law. He could not find any fault with them. He was afraid that he would not be able to complete the task that Mr. Mei had given him.
The director of the Ministry of Justice took a deep breath and pointed at Zhu Cong. "Drag him out and execute him."
The director of the Ministry of Justice was a good friend of his father, but he showed no mercy. Zhu Cong obviously realized something. He didn't dare to say anything and let the two runners take him out.
Soon, screams could be heard from the courtyard.
Li Mu walked to the courtyard of the Ministry of Justice, crossed his arms, and looked down at Zhu Cong being beaten. His attitude was very arrogant.
Zhu Cong was just an ordinary person who had not cultivated. He howled in pain under the torture.
In Luoyang, many officials and sons of rich families had never cultivated.
It was not because they did not have the conditions to cultivate. If they wanted to, they could push their children to the Jushen State in a short time, just like Ren Yuan.
However, in the path of cultivation, it was very difficult to reach the Middle Three Realms without special constitution or talent.
These people had enjoyed the riches of the mortal world since they were young. They could not bear the hardships of cultivation. Instead of letting them enter the cruel world of cultivation, it was better to hire cultivators to protect them.
The daughter of Zhang County Magistrates did not cultivate. Chen Miaomiao, the daughter of County Magistrate Chen, had the Body of Five Elements. Before she went to Mount Baiyun, she also did not cultivate. That was the reason.
Because Li Mu was watching, the two runners of the Ministry of Justice did not dare to go too easy on Zhu Cong.
With their years of experience, they would not hurt Zhu Cong badly, but the pain of the flesh was unavoidable.
After 40 beatings, Zhu Cong passed out.
The director of the Ministry of Justice looked at Li Mu and asked through gritted teeth, "Is that enough?"
Li Mu knew that the people of the Ministry of Justice had already done so much. Today's matter would probably end here.
If he continued to force Zhu Cong, he would be the one to lose justice.
"Goodbye."
Li Mu saluted the director of the Ministry of Justice with his hands folded. He took one last look at Zhu Cong and strode out.
Outside the Ministry of Justice, more than a hundred people gathered there and looked at Li Mu with respect and admiration.
He dared to beat up the son of an official on the street and scold the officials of the Ministry of Justice in the court of the Ministry of Justice. Only he, who was not afraid of heaven and earth, could do such a thing.
Not only that, but he also forced the Ministry of Justice to enforce the law impartially and walked out of the Ministry of Justice unscathed. It was so unbelievable that many people's jaws dropped.
Li Mu stood at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice and took a deep breath. He was almost intoxicated by the thick psyche power.
In the courtyard of the Ministry of Justice, the director of the Ministry of Justice watched Li Mu walk out. He almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He looked at the person beside him and gritted his teeth. "Assistant Minister, why did you let him go?"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice shook his head and said, "There are internal guards outside. If this matter is not handled properly, the Ministry of Justice will have something on us. I'm afraid the internal guards have already set their eyes on the Ministry of Justice. If you don't handle today's matter well, you'll probably be on the way to the internal guards' prison."
Hearing this, the director of the Ministry of Justice was stunned at first. Then, he shuddered and quickly said, "Thank you for your reminder, sir. You're so considerate."
"For the sake of the people, for the sake of justice …"
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice looked out of the door with a mocking expression. No one knew if he was mocking Li Mu or himself.
In the various courts of the Ministry of Justice, the officials were still discussing what happened in the court.
"Since when did the Luoyang yamen have such an audacious fellow?"
"With his temperament, I'm afraid he won't be able to stay in the Divine Capital for long."
"Strange, the assistant minister actually let him go. This isn't like the assistant minister at all …"
Only an old official in the corner shook his head and said slowly, "Similar, really similar …"
A young official beside him asked, "Similar to what?"
The old official said, "That constable of the Divine Capital Court is very similar to the assistant minister."
The official sneered and said, "Old Feng, you're really old and blind. How is he similar to the assistant minister? I saw him at the door of the duty room just now. He's very handsome and doesn't look like the assistant minister at all …"
The old official shook his head and said, "More than ten years ago, there was a young minister counsellor in the Ministry of Justice. He also scolded the director of the Ministry of Justice back then as a corrupt official …"
The official was stunned and asked, "Which minister counsellor was so bold to scold the director? He lost his position later, right?"
The old official smiled and said, "The minister counsellor then is the current assistant minister …"
…
On the streets of the Divine Capital, Li Mu apologized to the charming woman, "I'm sorry. Maybe I wasn't arrogant enough and didn't complete the task."
The charming woman shook her head and said, "I heard it outside. You were arrogant enough and didn't embarrass His Majesty. You didn't find a chance this time, but there will be a next time …"
This was the first time Li Mu experienced the feeling of having someone behind him.
No wonder the officials, nobles, and sons of wealthy families in the Divine Capital always liked to bully others. They were as arrogant as they could be. If they didn't have to take responsibility for their arrogance, then they would indeed be very happy and satisfied psychologically.
These people were born with things that many people couldn't have in their entire lives.
They didn't need to work hard and could enjoy luxurious food and clothing. They didn't need to cultivate and had cultivators by their side. Even the law protected them. They were rich in money, power, and material things. Some people began to pursue morbid psychological satisfaction.
To a certain extent, these people's excessive privileges over the common people was the root of the fierce conflicts in the Divine Capital.
If he could solve this problem, the Psyche Power he obtained from the common people would be enough to save Li Mu years of hard cultivation.
After returning to the government office, Li Mu found the Law of Great Zhou, Commentary on the Law of Zhou, and other books about the law. When he was in Yangqiu County and North County, Li Mu was in charge of arresting people, judging cases, and passing down punishments. It was the job of the county magistrate and the county captain.
After coming to the Divine Capital, Li Mu gradually realized that there was no harm in familiarizing himself with the law.
If he wanted to overturn the law of using silver as a substitute for crime, he first had to understand the development and changes of this law.
This law was created during the time of the previous emperor. In the early days, as long as it wasn't a crime of treason, even murder and arson, gold and silver could be used as a substitute for crime.
Later, because the scope of the crime was too large, there was no need to pay with one's life for murder. They only had to pay a portion of the gold and silver. Within the Great Zhou, chaos broke out everywhere. The Demon Sect took the opportunity to stir up disputes. External enemies also began to move. The Psyche Power of the common people fell to its lowest point in decades. Only then did the imperial court urgently reduce the scope of the crime and exclude serious cases of murder from the scope of using silver as a substitute for crime.
Although this temporarily reduced the impact of this matter, as long as this law was not abolished, it would be a chronic disease of the Great Zhou.
Later, many officials wanted to abolish this law, but they all failed.
Among them, an official from the Ministry of Justice named Zhou Zhong once advocated for reform. He briefly abolished this law for a few months, but the old forces with vested interests counterattacked and the reform failed.
This official named Zhou Zhong advocated using law to rule the country. He emphasized that there was no distinction between close and distant relatives, no distinction between high and low, and that all punishments should be dealt with by law. He did not evade the ministers, and rewarded the good but not the common man. He insisted that the law should treat everyone equally and abolish the use of silver as a substitute for crime.
This kind of thinking happened to coincide with Li Mu, who had a modern view of the law.
However, although this person's thinking was advanced, he was opposing the entire ruling class. His ending shouldn't be very good …
Li Mu sighed. He planned to investigate what happened to this official named Zhou Zhong.
He walked outside and found Wang Wu. He asked, "Do you know an official named Zhou Zhong?"
"Shh!" Wang Wu heard this and his expression changed. He said, "Boss, you can't call this person by his name …"
Li Mu's expression changed. He asked, "Why?"
Wang Wu said nervously, "He was the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, the mainstay of the radical faction of the old party. He ignored the law and supported those who were with him. He built the Ministry of Justice into the old party's Ministry of Justice and sheltered countless people from the old party. The reason why the old party dared to be arrogant in Luoyang was because of him. The people privately called him King of Hell Zhou. If King of Hell wanted you to die at midnight, he wouldn't let you live until dawn …"
Li Mu shook his head and said, "We're definitely not talking about the same person."
The Zhou Zhong that Li Mu mentioned was not afraid of the powerful. He supported the people and promoted the reform of the law. The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice that Wang Wu mentioned was the umbrella of the old party's evil forces. How could these two people be the same person?
Li Mu said, "He used to be the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice."
Deputy Arrester Sun walked over and said, "The current assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice was the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice more than ten years ago."
Li Mu was stunned. He asked, "Are there two assistant ministers named Zhou Zhong in the Ministry of Justice?"
Deputy Arrester Sun shook his head and said, "There's only one."
Li Mu was stunned for a long time. He still couldn't believe it.
After confirming it again and again, Li Mu had to admit that they were talking about the same person.
The Zhou Zhong who dared to challenge the power and promoted the reform of the law in the name of justice was the King of Hell Zhou who inverted black and white, mixed up right and wrong, sheltered the evil forces, and caused the people of Luoyang to turn pale when they heard the "law".
The young man who slayed the dragon back then had become an evil dragon.
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