"Sir, what should we do with the remaining villagers?"
Gao Hanwen on the side smelled the smell of blood in the air and the dead conditions of the villagers. His stomach turned, and then he looked at his hands blankly, speechless for a long time.
"According to what Mr. Gao said before, take them all to the Yamen. After the confessions are made, the innocent ones will be released."
Seeing that Gao Hanwen was speechless, Ma Ningyuan stepped forward and gave him an answer.
"yes!"
The soldiers took the order, and soon all the healthy villagers in Taoyuan Village were escorted back to the Yamen. Only a few women, children and the elderly were left on the scene.
…
"Teacher, here is the whole process of how Master Gao and I went to Taoyuan Village to suppress the rebellion!"
In the Zhejiang Governor's Mansion, Ma Ningyuan handed the document to Hu Zongxian, while Gao Hanwen knelt on the ground without saying a word.
Hu Zongxian took the folder, browsed through the contents, and nodded.
"You have done a good job. Release all the innocent villagers after the screening is correct! The other Zhang Daniu must ask him to speak as soon as possible. I want to see who is planning this behind the scenes." Hu Zongxian put down the note and said to The two encouraged them.
"Yes, I will go to the interrogation immediately!" Ma Ningyuan felt happy in his heart when he heard this. He was finally able to help the teacher.
"I'll go too." Gao Hanwen's faint voice reached Ma Ningyuan's ears.
"Okay." Ma Ningyuan looked at the expression on Gao Hanwen's face and did not refuse.
…
In the prison, Zhang Daniu was tied to a pillar, dying, without a piece of good meat on his body.
When he first entered the prison, the jailers tried all kinds of punishments on him. He just gritted his teeth and stiffened. He fainted several times, and then he was woken up by cold water. The whole process was repeated. Countless times, Zhang Daniu's eyes were fixed on the way he came, as if he was expecting something.
"Da da da" came the sound of footsteps, and Zhang Daniu's originally dull eyes suddenly became alive.
"Did he say that?"
"No, he said he would not speak until he saw you two!"
"It's okay, go down."
"yes!"
It was Gao Hanwen and Ma Ningyuan who entered the prison. After finishing their report, they rushed to the prison without stopping.
"How does it feel here?"
The jailer opened the cell respectfully. Ma Ningyuan looked at the miserable Zhang Daniu with joy on his face. Gao Hanwen couldn't help but frowned as he smelled the musty smell emanating from the cell.
"Not bad." Zhang Daniu grinned, blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, and there was no tooth in it.
"The jailer said before that you must see us before you will confess. Now that we are here, you can talk." Ma Ningyuan smiled and said.
"Who instigated you? And how do you know how to write and read?" Gao Hanwen also gave his own question at the right time.
"No one instructs me. As for writing and reading, I taught myself these things. You two idiots! Hahaha." Zhang Daniu's face was full of teasing.
"You're a cunning man, you deliberately amuse me, aren't you! Come here, I'll be punished." Ma Ningyuan was furious when he heard Zhang Daniu's answer, and immediately called the jailer, wanting to continue the punishment.
"No! If we continue to torture him, he won't be able to hold on anymore. He is deliberately irritating us. He wants to die."
After asking the question, Gao Hanwen kept observing the expression on Zhang Daniu's face. Seeing that Ma Ningyuan was aroused by his few words, Gao Hanwen warned him.
"Want to die?" After being reminded by Gao Hanwen, Ma Ningyuan quickly reacted, and a trace of fear flashed through his heart.
"You want to die because you want to save the people behind you, right? They may be your relatives, maybe your friends, maybe your bosses, and of course they may be your teachers. Am I right?" Gao Hanwen As he spoke, he stared into Zhang Daniu's eyes.
When Gao Hanwen mentioned the teacher, Zhang Daniu's pupils shrank suddenly, and then returned to their original shape in just an instant. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't be able to notice it.
All of this was seen by Gao Hanwen, and then he found a chair to sit down and said calmly: "Did your teacher instruct you to do this?"
"I don't know what you are talking about." The look of horror in Zhang Daniu's eyes flashed away, and he soon returned to normal.
"In this way, you can understand it even if you can read and write." Ma Ningyuan also nodded, agreeing with Gao Hanwen's view.
"Come here, go down and check whether this Zhang Daniu has attended a private school, and arrest all the knowledgeable people he has been in contact with recently!" Immediately afterwards, Ma Ningyuan called his subordinates and ordered in a deep voice.
"Sir...sir! We can't afford to offend those people." After hearing Ma Ningyuan's request, his subordinates expressed embarrassment and cried.
"I'll arrest you when I say it. Whatever happens, I'll be responsible for it!" Ma Ningyuan's selective gaze swept over his subordinate, making him shudder.
"Yes, yes, sir! I'll do it right away."
After hearing the measures taken by Ma Ningyuan, Zhang Daniu was completely panicked and shouted: "Don't touch the teacher, come to me if anything happens!"
Gao Hanwen and Ma Ningyuan looked at each other and nodded, and then Gao Hanwen said: "Go on, tell me everything you know! We may also consider not using torture on your teacher."
After Zhang Daniu hesitated for a moment, he finally chose to tell the truth.
"The thing is like this. A year ago, when I was cutting firewood in the mountains, I rescued an old man who was injured in an accident. Later, in order to thank me, the old man recommended me to study at Bailu Academy."
"Egret Academy?" Ma Ningyuan couldn't help being shocked when he heard this.
"What's the origin of Egret Academy?" Gao Hanwen couldn't help but be curious when he saw Ma Ningyuan acting like this.
"Master Gao doesn't know something. This Bailu Academy is one of the famous academies in Zhejiang. There are countless scholars and talents in it! Some of them are even in high positions and are well respected by the scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang!" See Gao Hanwen Interested in this, Ma Ningyuan immediately introduced the ins and outs of Bailu Academy to him.
"The current Bailu Academy is run by Lu Dongxing. He was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Jiajing's reign. He later resigned and returned to his hometown. He is quite famous."
Ma Ningyuan glanced at the expression on Gao Hanwen's face, and then added.
"The Egret Academy is not something that ordinary people can enter. Just because you save someone, you can enter and study?" Ma Ningyuan then raised his question.
"It's said to be studying, but in fact it's just auditing. Because I was born in a lowly position, coupled with my ugly appearance and dark skin, those scholars were unwilling to associate with me! So I only learned how to read and write." Zhang Daniu said in a tone of voice Gradually it became darker.
"Then how did you come into contact with these topics about changing rice into mulberry?" Then Gao Hanwen asked the answer he was most concerned about.
"The scholars are talking about it, and the teachers at the college seem to be criticizing it."
"Then one day, a teacher who was teaching in a private school came to me and hoped that I would take action and lead the villagers to resist the tyranny. He also told me the inside story of converting rice into mulberry trees without reservation. He also said that the world would rise and fall. Everyone has a responsibility..." Zhang Daniu's voice gradually became quieter and turned into a whisper.
Ma Ningyuan sneered twice and said contemptuously: "So you listened to his rumors and led the villagers to kill the soldiers who were measuring the fields!"
"Have everything been recorded?" Ma Ningyuan looked at the subordinate staff aside and asked.
"Your Majesty, everything has been recorded."
