Half a month ago, the Silver Law of Substitution was still a protective umbrella for the powerful and influential officials in Luoyang. Ever since Li Mu came to Luoyang, he put away the umbrella and used it as a weapon to whip them.
The longer this law existed, the longer they would be threatened by Li Mu.
After some discussion, they finally decided to abolish this law.
Since this law could no longer be used by them, it could not be used by that damned Li Mu either.
All along, those who opposed the abolition of the Silver Law of Substitution were here. As long as they all agreed to abolish this law, there would be no more resistance.
The Ministry of Justice had always been in charge of making and changing criminal laws. The Minister of Justice said, "I need to ask the two of you about this."
At the back office of the Ministry of Justice.
The Minister of Justice asked, "You want to abolish the Silver Law of Substitution?"
The Minister of Justice nodded and said, "The arrester of Luoyang was ordered by the Commandant of Luoyang to do whatever he wanted with the Silver Law of Substitution. He made Luoyang a mess. If this law is not abolished, the Ministry of Justice will become a joke in Luoyang …"
The Minister of Justice did not have a son. He did not care whether the Silver Law of Substitution was abolished or not.
He looked at the other person beside him and asked, "Assistant Minister Zhou, what do you think?"
The Assistant Minister of Justice did not even raise his head and said, "It's a small matter. Let them decide."
The Minister of Justice suddenly thought of something and said, "Assistant Minister Zhou, didn't you also advocate for reform and abolish the Silver Law of Substitution?"
The Assistant Minister of Justice raised his head and said, "Yes, I was young and fearless. I always wanted to do something for the court. Unfortunately, I was not as lucky as this arrester …"
The Minister of Justice said, "His fearlessness is quite similar to Assistant Minister Zhou in the past. But it's good that this law is abolished. At least Luoyang will be less chaotic …"
The Minister of Justice just smiled and said, "The chaotic atmosphere in Luoyang is not just because of the Silver Law of Substitution. I really want to see how far he can go …"
With the permission of the two officials, the Minister of Justice returned to his room on duty and began to think about abolishing the Silver Law of Substitution.
He had no choice but to make this decision. He felt very depressed, but there was nothing he could do.
Li Mu had taken their path, leaving them with no other path to take, so they could only destroy it.
Two days later, Zi Wei Hall.
When the Director of the Ministry of Justice brought up the memorial from the Shendu Military Captain Zhang Chun again, his attitude changed. He actually supported the idea of the court abolishing the use of silver in lieu of punishment and changing it to a combination of silver and punishment. The Minister Counsellor of the Ministry of Revenue, the Director of the Ministry of Rites, and the Minister of Taichang Temple all stood out to support this idea.
This action caused some of the people in the imperial court to drop their jaws.
Every time someone brought up the idea of abolishing the punishment silver, these officials, led by the director of the Ministry of Justice, would stand out to oppose it.
Just half a month ago, they had righteously refuted the abolition of the Substitute Sin Silver. How could they change their minds one after another after only half a month?
Of course, there were also a portion of people who knew exactly what had happened in the past half a month.
It was because these people supported the Substitution Silver Method that their children were forced to hide at home by the constable of the Luoyang yamen. This matter had become a joke in the Luoyang yamen.
These people had picked up a rock, but in the end, they had only smashed their own feet.
In the hall, an imperial censor stood out and asked the Minister Counsellor of the Ministry of Revenue, "Lord Wei, didn't you say before that the Substitute Sin Silver is an important source of income for the national treasury every year? The repair costs of the Royal Palace, the salaries of the officials, and the disaster relief funds for the various counties all come from here? Without the Substitute Sin Silver, where will all this money come from?"
Anyone could hear the mockery in the censor's words. The Minister Counsellor of the Ministry of Revenue said without blushing or skipping a beat, "Although the Substitute Sin Silver has been abolished, in the future, if you break the law, you will be punished both with silver and punishment. Moreover, the amount of punishment will be higher than before. The worry of the Ministry of Revenue's income decreasing can be resolved …"
The censor then looked at the Director of the Ministry of Rites and asked, "The Substitute Sin Silver system was established when the previous Emperor was still alive. If it is so easily overturned, is it not disrespectful to the previous Emperor?"
This was what he had said in the court half a month ago. The Director of the Ministry of Rites blushed but quickly recovered. He said, "That was then and this is now. The court situation during the previous Emperor's time is very different from now. We officials in the court cannot stick to the old ways. We must know how to be flexible. Only then can we better assist His Majesty in governing the country …"
The censor gave him a disdainful look but did not say anything else.
After all, the abolition of the Substitute Sin Silver was beneficial to the people. A few words of mockery were enough. If they were forced into a corner, it might backfire.
Behind the curtain, the young female official slowly said, "Does anyone have any objections to the abolition of the Substitute Sin Silver?"
There was complete silence in the hall.
Even the officials who usually opposed the law had turned to support the abolition. Even if the others did not want to, they would not stand out and express their selfishness.
After a moment, the young female official said, "Since no one objects, the Ministry of Justice will immediately abolish the law. From now on, anyone who breaks the law will not be able to use silver as a substitute …"
…
Luoyang yamen.
Mr. Mei held the imperial edict in his hand and read it aloud, "Zhang Chun, the Military Captain of Luoyang, diligent and loyal to the people. He will be granted an official residence and become the Minister of Luoyang."
Zhang Chun smiled and took the imperial edict with both hands. He bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty …"
Li Mu stood aside and sighed to himself.
He hated the fact that he had been working for others for years.
He was the one who was busy outside. He was the one who was hated by the sons of officials. He was the one who had been in and out of the Ministry of Justice seven times. In the end, Lord Zhang was the one who got the residence and was promoted by half a rank. Li Mu had worked hard for half a month and worked for him for nothing.
After Mr. Mei finished reading the imperial edict, he walked to Li Mu and asked, "How much did you spend these days? I will report it to you when I return to the palace."
Li Mu said, "30 taels."
Mr. Mei raised his eyebrows and said in surprise, "30 taels?"
He was not surprised that Li Mu had spent too much, but that it was too little.
The abolition of the substitute silver would benefit the present generation and the future generations. Many knowledgeable officials wanted to abolish the law, but they all failed in the end. It was obvious how difficult it was to do it.
She was prepared to spend 3,000 or even 30,000 taels. She did not expect Li Mu to spend 30 taels.
Li Mu nodded and repeated, "It was 30 taels. Most of it was spent in the Ministry of Justice."
If it was not for the meal at the Fragrance Restaurant, 20 taels would have been enough.
The most effective way to deal with evil people was to be even more evil than them. If you wanted to force the Ministry of Justice to submit, then you had to go their way and leave them with no way out.
As long as you found the right way, the money was secondary.
In the Imperial Garden of the palace.
The Empress was admiring a budding peony among the flowers. She said softly, "30 taels?"
Official Mei bowed slightly and stood behind her. He smiled and said, "In the past half a month, he has used the Silver Law of Guilt Substitution to its maximum. He only used 20 taels to beat up the sons of the officials from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Justice. If that wasn't the case, why would those officials take the initiative to change the law …"
The young female official beside her said, "After Her Majesty abolished the substitute silver law, the people of Fairy's Capital responded very strongly. Everyone in Fairy's Capital went to the State Temple to pray …"
The Empress looked away from the flower bud and said calmly, "Let's go out and have a look."
She turned around and brushed the flower bud with her sleeve. In an instant, the peonies in the garden bloomed.
On the streets of Fairy's Capital.
Li Mu and Wang Wu walked on the streets. There were not many people on the streets that used to be bustling today.
At this time, most of the people in Fairy's Capital went to the State Temple to pray.
The substitute silver law had tortured the people for more than a decade since the time of the previous emperor. Today, it was finally abolished. The people of Fairy's Capital were grateful for Her Majesty's benevolence and went to the State Temple to pray. This caused the idea of getting some telekinesis from the people to fail.
However, although most of Li Mu's gains were stolen by Lord Li Mu because of the abolition of the substitute silver law, it was only for the imperial court. The people's trust in Li Mu would not decrease.
This was all because of his punches on the streets of Fairy's Capital.
From afar, Li Mu saw a group of people coming from afar. They were all familiar faces to Li Mu.
There was Wei Peng, the son of the vice-director of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhu Cong, the son of the director of the Ministry of Rites, Yang Xiu, the son of the director of the Ministry of Justice, and the grandson of the Minister of Taichang Temple …
For the past few days, Li Mu had been waiting for them on the street for a long time, but they refused to come out. Now that he finally saw them, he couldn't beat them up for no reason because the Silver Art of Crime Substitution had been abolished.
When they saw Li Mu, their first reaction was to turn and run. Later, they realized that the substitute silver law was abolished. What was there to be afraid of?
They strode forward and focused their eyes on Li Mu. They were full of anger.
Wei Peng suffered the most from Li Mu. His eyes were the fiercest, as if he wanted to eat him alive.
Even though the bailiffs from the Ministry of Justice didn't hit him hard, he was still bedridden at home for nearly half a month. During this period, there wasn't a moment when he didn't think about taking revenge on Li Mu and washing away the humiliation he suffered that day.
Li Mu glanced at him and said angrily, "What are you looking at?"
Wei Peng smiled coldly and said, "What's wrong with looking at you?"
Li Mu could not do anything to him. After all, the substitute silver law was changed. He had no reason to beat Wei Peng up. Not only did he have to be beaten up, but he also had to be fined a large sum of money.
Seeing Li Mu standing there, Wei Peng twitched the corner of his mouth and asked, "What's wrong? Are you scared? This is not like you, Constable Li …"
Li Mu looked at him and said, "I'm warning you. Don't be too arrogant …"
Wei Peng mocked, "Being arrogant doesn't violate the law. Why don't you hit me?"
Seeing that Li Mu still did not do anything, the mocking expression on his face became more obvious. He arrogantly moved closer to Li Mu's ear and said in a low voice, "Our matter is not over yet …"
Li Mu picked his ear and said, "What did you say? Speak louder. I can't hear you."
Wei Peng raised his voice and said, "Our matter is not over yet!"
Li Mu looked at him and asked, "Are you threatening me?"
Wei Peng laughed coldly and said, "So what if I'm threatening you? Is it against the law?"
Everyone had mocking expressions. Only Yang Xiu, the son of the director of the Ministry of Justice, was stunned in place. In the next moment, he said in shock, "Wei Peng, shut up!"
As the son of the director of the Ministry of Justice, he had a much deeper understanding of the laws of the Great Zhou than Wei Peng and the others.
Using words or violence to threaten and intimidate an official of the imperial court was truly against the law …
If the circumstances were minor, they would be detained for five days or less. If the circumstances were serious, they would be detained for five days or less and be fined money …
Yang Xiu wanted to remind Wei Peng, but it was already too late.
"You don't know, right? Threatening me is really against the law …" Li Mu looked at Wei Peng and shook his head. "Let's go and sit in the yamen. In the future, remember to read more books. There's no harm …"
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