After Jinyiwei Lu Bing received the order from Jiajing, he sent Zhu Qi and others to Zhejiang overnight to investigate. It is now the third day.
In Jinyiwei's safe house, everyone gathered together to exchange information obtained in recent days.
"There must be something fishy about the collapse of the embankment in Zhejiang! I went to the site to check last night. The materials used to build the embankment were excellent. It was impossible for it to collapse after a heavy rain. There were also signs of man-made damage at the site."
"In addition, according to the intelligence network, we learned that just two days ago, Shen Yishi, the richest man in Zhejiang, hosted Zheng Michang, Zhejiang's chief envoy, He Maocai, Zhejiang's inspector-general, and Ma Ningyuan, the prefect of Hangzhou, to a banquet at his house. The banquet After it was over, Na Ma Ningyuan seemed to have something on his mind and wandered around on the street."
"Oh, by the way, it is said that Ma Ningyuan also stopped by the Governor's Mansion to meet his teacher Hu Zongxian, but it was getting late, so he had to give up."
"My subordinates learned the above from Ma Ningyuan's personal guards and the servants of the Governor's Mansion."
After hearing his subordinate's description, Zhu Qi frowned and said in a deep voice: "Behind the richest man in Zhejiang, Shen Yishi, are Mr. Yan Ge and the others. These people are all the backbone of the Yan Party."
"Could it be that the collapse of the dam was instigated by Mr. Yan Ge and others! The purpose was to annex the people's land?" After hearing what Zhu Qi said, the subordinates couldn't help but make a guess.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out for the time being. By the way, has Li Xuan confessed?" Zhu Qixiang asked as if he suddenly remembered something.
"No, this Li Xuan is very tough-talking. Even after all the punishments were used on him, he refused to explain. He just said that he embezzled the project funds during the process of building the dam, which caused the quality of the dam to be so bad!" The subordinates heard this and complained dissatisfiedly.
"What about Yang Jinshui? Have you reviewed him?" Zhu Qi said, picking up the teapot on the table and pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Sir, Yang Jinshui is the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau, he is also a member of the palace, and he is Lu Fang's godson! We didn't dare to go too far, we just asked a few words, and Yang Jinshui also insisted It was Li Xuan who embezzled the project funds."
"Tomorrow you will go with me to visit Hu Zongxian and see if we can get a breakthrough from his student Ma Ningyuan. This matter must be investigated clearly, otherwise we will have no shame in going back to see His Majesty!" Zhu Qi heard what his subordinates said, He sighed helplessly and ordered.
"yes."
…
Hai Rui has been regarded as the new magistrate of Chun'an County since he completed his duties at the Governor's Mansion. On the way to the Chun'an County government office, Hai Rui saw countless disaster victims, naked and lying in a mess. On the roadside! Some people fell to the ground while walking and never woke up, while more people huddled in corners, silently enduring the torment of hunger in their bellies.
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
"Be good, go to sleep. You won't be hungry when you sleep."
"But I'm too hungry to sleep."
In the corner, there was a conversation between mother and son, accompanied by occasional sobbing.
"What's going on? Hasn't the government already started providing relief? How could this happen?" Hai Rui asked a hungry old man while he was on the way to Chun'an County Government.
"You don't know something. Since the new magistrate of Chun'an County has not yet taken office, the government has asked the magistrate of Jiande County next door to temporarily take charge of Chun'an County's disaster relief materials. However, the victims of our Chun'an County are not even visible. Didn’t even see it.”
"Some people were too angry to go to the government to argue, but unexpectedly they were severely injured! We have no choice but to carry it. We only hope that the new magistrate will take office soon and save the people of Chun'an County from the fire."
"By the way, you seem to have an extraordinary bearing. You must be a scholar." The old man who was pulled by Hai Rui earlier asked after looking him up and down.
"I am Hai Rui, the new magistrate of Chun'an County. I'm sorry, I'm late!" Hai Rui said with a look of sadness on his face.
"I've met the magistrate!"
After the old man heard about Hai Rui's identity, he quickly knelt on the ground and shouted to the people around him: "Come quickly, everyone, our new magistrate of Chun'an County, Mr. Hai Rui, is here! We are saved!"
As soon as these words came out, the hungry people who had been huddled in the corner immediately surrounded Hai Rui, telling their grievances one after another. Seeing this, the guards on the side wanted to step forward to protect the magistrate, but were blocked by Hai Rui. Rui waved his hand to stop it.
"If you have any grievances, please tell me. When I go to Chun'an County to change into official uniforms and seals and ribbons, I will seek justice for you!" Hai Rui said, bowing to the people around him.
After Hai Rui finished speaking, the crowd automatically made way for him. Hai Rui walked at the front, flanked by the guards responsible for protecting his safety, and followed by countless victims. The entire team was silent as they marched until They stopped at the seat of the Chun'an County government office.
"You don't need to send them off. I will give you an explanation after I understand the situation first." After saying this, Hai Rui bowed his hands to the crowd and then turned around and entered the county government office.
As soon as Hai Rui entered the county government office, government officials surrounded him. Their eyes were shining and they asked anxiously, "Are you the new county magistrate?"
"That's right, I am Hai Rui, the new magistrate of Chun'an County!" Hai Rui nodded and said solemnly.
"Great, the starving people in our Chun'an County have been saved! Sir, please come over here. The official uniforms and seals and ribbons left by my predecessor are over there."
"Um."
Under the leadership of the government officials, Hai Rui quickly obtained the seal and ribbon of the county magistrate and changed into official uniform.
"Bring me the Chun'an County booklet. I want to compare it first." Hai Rui then sat down in the lobby and ordered to the chief bookkeeper on the side.
"Master Magistrate, please wait a moment. I'll bring you the booklet right away."
After a while, the chief bookkeeper brought the account books recording Chun'an County's expenses as well as the books related to relief, land, money, grain, taxation, etc. to Hai Rui for his inspection.
Hai Rui read it very quickly and checked it out in a short while. After confirming that his predecessor did not leave any shortcomings or hidden dangers, he breathed a sigh of relief and then asked.
"Before I came here, I heard that the magistrate of Jiande County next door took advantage of the disaster relief materials that originally belonged to Chun'an County before I took office. Is it true?"
"Your Excellency, the county magistrate, this matter is true. We have asked Jiande County Magistrate Wang Yong and Mr. Wang for supplies many times, but were rejected by them on the excuse of not being of high rank, not qualified to talk to him, and having too many affairs." ." The chief secretary looked at the new county magistrate in front of him, carefully considered his tone, and then said.
"Humph, this is really unreasonable! Tell me the whole story again, and I will definitely seek justice for the people of Chun'an County."
"Yes, Lord Magistrate, this is what happened..."
After the chief clerk's narration, Hai Rui finally figured out the whole story. At the same time, a fire kept rising in his heart: "Why?"
