Chapter 392 - 361: Scales
These are all my words.
Gray Rain widened his eyes, only to see the newly appeared man in black flipping left and right, taking some invaluable gold and silver jewels from the shelves, and packing them into a small cloth bag prepared in advance.
Wait a minute, something’s not right.
Generally, when a thief enters such a treasury, they would take anything they can get, eager to fill a sack, and cover themselves in rings and tools.
But this man in black only took a small cloth bag, and he looked calm and composed, only selecting high-value targets without even glancing at slightly cheaper treasures.
It seems he’s not here for theft but rather searching for something, using the act of stealing as a cover.
In the dark, Gray Rain looked suspiciously at Li Cheng, who mouthed silently, "Sikong Lan of the Jinyi Guard."
Historically, the Jinyi Guard’s duties included but were not limited to guarding the emperor, monitoring literature and military, managing the imperial prison, delivering documents, and supervising exams, functioning similar to a public security judicial agency.
As the Ming Dynasty’s system became rigid, corruption within the Jinyi Guard escalated, with severe overstaffing and degeneration, inevitably declining until it perished with the Ming Dynasty.
A laughable fact is that the terrifying image of the Jinyi Guard with "imperial power, god-slaying privileges" in later artistic works is largely due to Chang Kaishen.
During the Republic, progressives angered by Chang Kaishen’s repressive rule, unable to openly criticize, would use critiques of Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Jinyi Guard, as an indirect attack on the various secret agencies of the Republic.