Chapter 220 Zhu Huan, the chief judge of a major collective corruption case, was implicated in the empty seal case because his brother was too treacherous
According to what Zhu Gang learned, no one in the court dared to report Zhu Huan's actions to Zhu Yuanzhang at that time.

Only Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike reported Zhu Huan's actions to Old Zhu.

Zhu Yuanzhang stated that if what the two said was true, he would severely punish Zhu Huan even though he was a royal relative.

Later, he sent Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike to Dingyuan County to investigate.

When the two arrived in Dingyuan County, they found that the tax problem was serious. The imperial court stipulated that the tax rate should be one in thirty, but Dingyuan County levied it at three in thirty.

In addition, Zhu Huan also arbitrarily imposed additional taxes on tea, salt, oil, and cloth.

At this time, Zhu Huan was drinking in the hotel. When he saw the pretty waitress Xiao Qin, he became evil-minded and forcibly took her to the back room and raped her.

Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike happened to come to the restaurant where Zhu Huan was and heard a woman screaming.

So the two of them wanted to go into the back room to check, but they were intercepted by Wu Jinde, a subordinate of Zhu Huan.

Because Wu Jinde delayed the time, Zhu Huan hurried out of the back room and left after he succeeded.

Hearing Xiaoqin's crying coming from the back room, the restaurant owner told Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike the truth.

Zheng Shiyuan took note of the restaurant owner's words and asked Xiaoqin to put her fingerprint on it for future use.

Not long after Zhu Huan raped Xiao Qin, he became lustful towards Zhang, the wife of Zhang Yi, the deputy inspector of the county government.

So he deliberately promoted Zhang Yi to the position of chief clerk. Zhang Yi thought he had found a treasure and invited Zhu Huan to his home to express his gratitude.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Huan revealed his true nature as soon as he saw Zhang and forcibly took her back home.

Zhang Yi dared not resist Zhu Huan and could only watch his wife being taken away.

Zhu Huan molested Zhang and sent her back to the Zhang family. At this time, Zhang Yi was nowhere to be found.

Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike then reported the situation in Dingyuan County to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu decided to go to Dingyuan County to investigate in person, and he dressed himself up as a businessman.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived in Dingyuan County, Zhu Yuanzhang and his entourage encountered Wu Jinde, a subordinate of Zhu Huan, who was blackmailing a shop owner.

They helped the shop owner out of trouble and learned from him about Zhu Huan's robbery of Zhang.

However, when Zhu Yuanzhang sent people to Zhang Yi's house, they found that Zhang had committed suicide.

So when Old Zhu arrived at the county government office, he ordered Zhu Huan and Wu Jinde to be detained and handed over to Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike for interrogation.

During their questioning of all the county government officials, Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike learned that Zhu Huan had forged an order to add new taxes and tax amounts.

In addition, Wu Jinde extorted huge amounts of money in the name of royal relatives, more than 50,000 strings of cash.

What's more serious is that Zhu Huan embezzled 150,000 strings of cash from taxes in the name of building a temporary palace for Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, Zhang Yi had returned to Dingyuan County and submitted a complaint to Zheng Shiyuan, accusing Zhu Huan of raping and forcing his wife Zhang to death.

When Zhu Huan's father Zhu Liujiu learned that his son was detained, he specially sent his subordinate Chen Dongzhi to threaten Zheng Shiyuan to release him.

Han Yike secretly recorded Chen Dongzhi's words, and then asked the other party to sign for record.

Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike then sent the trial results and transcripts to Zhu Yuanzhang's residence.

Based on the facts of the case, Zhu Yuanzhang sentenced Wu Jinde, County Magistrate Luo Mingtong and others to death by slow slicing, and also executed three generations of their clans.

Anyone who embezzled more than 80 strings of cash would have his property confiscated and beheaded. In the case of Chen Dongzhi, his tongue was cut out and his head was displayed to the public.

When Zhu Yuanzhang personally interrogated Zhu Huan, he was so scared that he trembled all over and begged Zhu to spare him this time.

Zhu Huan even said that he would no longer be an official and would guard the Zhu family's ancestral tomb for the rest of his life.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to execute Zhu Huan, but due to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, he could not take the initiative to say something to spare Zhu Huan.

So Zhu ordered his men to beat Zhu Huan with a hundred sticks and then ordered the guards to shoot him to death with arrows.

The guards knew that Zhu Yuanzhang did not want to kill his nephew, so they shot five times but missed the vital points.

All the ministers also gave Zhu Yuanzhang a way out, so Zhu Yuanzhang took the opportunity to demote Zhu Huan to a commoner and never allowed him to hold an official position again.

At this time, Zheng Shiyuan spoke up, risking his life to dissuade Zhu Yuanzhang. "If the royal family is granted special favors, it will lose the trust of the people.

Over time, the law will no longer be lawful.”

Zheng Shiyuan's words angered Zhu Yuanzhang, who became so angry that he was about to drag Zheng Shiyuan out of the county government office and behead him.

Unexpectedly, another fearless official stepped forward. This person was Han Yike, who was working on the case with Zheng Shiyuan.

Han Yike strongly advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to kill Zheng Shiyuan, but to kill Zhu Huan instead.

As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang's anger rose again, and he insisted on beheading Han Yike and Zheng Shiyuan together.

Unexpectedly, when Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike were dragged out of the county government office, Zhu Biao took the initiative to rescue them.

He also advised Zhu Yuanzhang that it was Zhu Huan who should be beheaded, and that Zheng and Han were loyal and patriotic people who should not be killed.

At this time Empress Ma also came out to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang, and finally Zhu Yuanzhang decided to execute Zhu Huan to uphold the law.

When Zhu Huan's father, Zhu Liujiu, learned that Zhu Yuanzhang had decided to kill Zhu Huan, he hurried to see him.

Zhu Liujiu tried his best to dissuade Zhu Yuanzhang from killing Zhu Huan and cutting off his own incense.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt uncomfortable seeing his own brother begging so hard, and expressed his willingness to adopt his sixth son Zhu Zhen as Zhu Liujiu's son.

But Zhu Liujiu was not willing to do that. No matter how good other people's sons were, they could not compare to his own useless son.

This put Old Zhu in a difficult position, and in desperation he simply knelt down and kowtowed to his brother.

When Zhu Liujiu saw that Zhu Yuanzhang had knelt down in front of him, he knew that there was no hope for his son's life.

So Zhu Liujiu simply took out a dagger and stabbed himself in the chest, eventually dying with blood gushing out.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw his brother fighting so hard, he didn't want to lose.

He cried for a while, then hardened his heart and warned his ministers.

“You all saw it, let’s kill the Zhu family first.

If there are any more corrupt officials in the future, once they are found out, they will never be forgiven!"

In the end, Zhu Huan was beheaded, and Zheng Keyuan also laid hidden dangers for his future.

After all, if he and Han Yike had not forced Zhu Yuanzhang to kill his own relatives for the sake of justice, Zhu Huan would probably have escaped.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was good at taking advantage of others, would definitely not let Zheng Keyuan go easily.

In addition, the other party's brother dared to openly question the "Empty Seal Case", which obviously gave Lao Zhu a good excuse.

As a result, Zheng Keyuan, who was punished after the event, was implicated by his brother and became a prisoner.

After figuring out the whole story, Zhu Gang did not intend to let Zheng Keyuan go.

"In fact, the biggest problem with the 'Empty Seal Case' is that Your Majesty was kept in the dark.

Since ancient times, deceiving the emperor has been an unforgivable crime. If you dare to plead for such a person, you will be sentenced to death in the eyes of your father.

I have a compromise solution, would you consider it?"

Then a sinister smile appeared on Zhu Gang's lips, and his voice became low and cold.

"I can show mercy to you and your family, but Mr. Zheng must do something for me."

Zheng Keyuan was slightly stunned, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

However, he still managed to remain calm and replied, "Your Highness Prince Jin, please speak."

Zhu Gang's eyes flashed with cunning, and he smiled and said, "I hope Mr. Zheng can persuade your brother to confess everything to His Majesty in person."

(End of this chapter)