Chapter 1028: Chapter 988: Guilty of Countless Crimes
That means severe and harsh punishment.
Lin Yi had already made up his mind, just based on these people’s attitudes of coming to lodge complaints.
Lin Yi never intended to let any of them live.
However, there are thousands of ways to die, of course, selecting the one that would leave the deepest impression.
And to make all unknown officials shudder.
To make all officials with ulterior motives fear and tremble,
Only in this way can he achieve the purpose he desires by seizing this opportunity.
This time, the people were exceptionally enthusiastic, even those who arrived later and missed the earlier discussions learned the purpose of the current proceedings through word of mouth.
In an instant, everyone couldn’t help but gaze at Lin Yi, seated upright on the high platform, a look of gratitude surfaced in everyone’s eyes.
None of them could imagine that an Emperor would personally sit here under the scorching sun, listening to their grievances, addressing their complaints, and taking charge for them.
Such an Emperor had now reached a rather high level in their hearts.
In this moment, if there were truly rebels attacking, these commoners would spontaneously protect Lin Yi’s safety.
This is the simple mindset of the people, this is how incredibly noble Lin Yi’s image is in everyone’s hearts at this moment!
Over here, the young clerks busy recording were already writing with sore hands, yet the number of people voicing grievances showed no signs of dwindling.
For this reason, Lin Yi had no choice but to start recruiting talent among the people, utilizing local resources, asking who could write, who could read, and temporarily bringing them over to record for the people.
After all, the speed of one person recording is truly too slow, and the line of complainants is indeed too long.
Sure enough, when Lin Yi called out among the people, although the general literacy level was quite low, there were those among them who were learned, and at this moment, these scholars stood out on their own without Lin Yi having to say much.
And with the addition of these individuals, the speed noticeably quickened.
The line that originally had to be queued as a single row could now be rearranged into three or four rows due to the increase in numbers.
As a result, the overall progress had accelerated considerably, finally allowing all the accusations to be recorded clearly after a bowl of fine white rice porridge for lunch and a white wheat cake for dinner.
At this moment, each criminal kneeled in that vast open space, and before them were piles of bamboo tablets.
It can be said that these bamboo tablets recorded the crimes they committed throughout their lives, the accusations lodged by the people against them.
The one with the least amount, even a woman, had twenty to thirty rolls placed before her.
Upon seeing this, Lin Yi couldn’t help but twitch his mouth and simultaneously grew deeply resentful towards this group of people.
Not only Lin Yi, but even Lord Liu, dangling on the flagpole, was immensely shaken by the scene unfolding before him.
Though he was accustomed to arrogance and misconduct himself, he never imagined that the people under his command had committed so many wrongdoings.
Not only the powerful and influential officials, even the soldiers he employed in the army for gathering information engaged in misconduct, at the very least, instances of oppressing the people.
Such circumstances were beyond his wildest imagination.
Originally, he thought the individuals under his command might be somewhat arrogant on usual days, but under his oppressive power, they would surely exercise restraint.
Moreover, he had indulged in those dreams of becoming an Emperor, considering that after attaining the throne, these subordinates would naturally become major officials in various departments.
Because in his view, these people were trustworthy, and it was precisely their existence that secured his current position.
Yet he couldn’t have imagined that the situation beneath was far more complicated than he thought.
And looking at this group, each one’s complexion was terribly distressed, some with bamboo tablets piled as high as small mountains, even to the point of covering them up.
Regarding this, Lin Yi directly waved his hand, ordering people to bring that fellow to the front of the bamboo tablets so they could be better exposed in front of everyone.
In front of everyone, Lin Yi ordered his men to take out the newspaper he had previously issued and read it aloud to the crowd.
Moreover, it promised the policy of halved taxes.
This instantly earned him the adoration of countless people, and for a time, cheers overshadowed the cries of pleading filling the venue.
The people never expected that the Emperor would not only stand up for them but also reduce the agricultural tax to such an extent, indeed a miraculous blessing!
After reading the newspaper, Lin Yi also informed everyone that such newspapers would often be issued in the future and would be regularly read at designated places,
allowing the content of these newspapers to reach everyone’s ears,
without requiring everyone to be literate to clearly comprehend the major events happening domestically and abroad in Dayou.
It can be said that this has immediately allowed everyone to participate in national governance.
This joy falling from the sky made everyone feel a bit dizzy.
No one in the audience could imagine that one day they would participate in national policy, such an event truly unprecedented!
Naturally, everyone strongly supported this, and waves of shouting reflected the excitement within their hearts.
And this was just the prelude; Lin Yi promptly ordered recording of the situation before him and prepared to publish it in the next newspaper circulated nationwide.
Of course, these are just side notes, merely a minor episode.
Lin Yi scrutinized the various pieces of evidence laid out before the criminals, casually picked up a book to examine it, and immediately felt rage bubbling within him, lifting his foot to kick the full-fledged brute before him to the ground,
simultaneously unable to resist dealing a round of punches and kicks.
This action directly incited the crowd below to erupt in cheers of long live, shouting good fellow, instantly heightening the atmosphere at the scene.
This wasn’t Lin Yi doing it deliberately, but he truly couldn’t stand the monstrous crimes this person had committed.
Not mentioning the incidents during the crimes, merely the grievances presented in the accusations already infuriated Lin Yi beyond measure.
[To be continued...]
