The Zhang family in Xianyang is a family of merchants.
Of course, there is no comparison between the Zhang family and the Wang family, Zhang family, and Meng family, which have been the noble families of Qin for generations. It is like the light of fireflies competing for the brightness of the bright moon, which is not on the same level at all. Large families like the Wang family and the Meng family are among the top in the entire Qin Kingdom.
A merchant family like the Zhang family is similar to the Su family and has some strength in Xianyang.
The wife of the Zhang family has always wanted to climb up the ladder and change the fate of the family. In the past, when Li Xu, Minister of the Ministry of War, was there, Mrs. Zhang attached herself to Li Xu and became famous for a period of time. When Li Xu and Lin Feng became enemies, and Li Xu participated in planning the rebellion, the Li family was completely destroyed.
Although the Zhang family is close to the Li family, the Zhang family is still unable to get close to the rebellion and has no capital to participate. Therefore, when the Li family was ransacked, the Zhang family was not dealt with.
After all, without a backer, the Zhang family lost its former glory and could only shrink.
The Zhang family is declining day by day, which is not what Mrs. Zhang wants to see. Just when Mrs. Zhang was unable to revitalize the family, she took the imperial examination. Mrs. Zhang knew very well what kind of nature his son Zhang Wu had. His son was full of male thieves and female prostitutes. He was a little clever and smart, but had no real abilities.
Mrs. Zhang was unwilling to accept the decline of her family. After the list was released, she arranged for someone to keep an eye on the list and discovered Pang Shuangxi.
Pang Shuangxi was well outside the 200th place, which meant that Pang Shuangxi was very ordinary. There was no problem for Zhang Wu to replace Pang Shuangxi.
Mrs. Zhang’s thoughts were all on Zhang Wu.
As long as Zhang Wu's audience with the emperor was successful, as long as Zhang Wu could be released, even if he served as a county magistrate or a county lieutenant, Zhang Wu would be able to rise step by step with Mrs. Zhang's advice behind his back. At least the Zhang family can break through the current predicament and avoid visible continued decline.
In the study, Mrs. Zhang was drinking tea.
He was drinking tea, squinting his eyes slightly, with a faint smile on his face, full of expectation, looking forward to Zhang Wu's return.
Mrs. Zhang even prepared three animals. Once Zhang Wu came back, she would take Zhang Wu to sacrifice to his ancestors.
When Zhang Taiwei squinted his eyes, the sound of rapid footsteps came, and the housekeeper entered in a hurry and reported: "Master, it's not good, the people from Heibingtai broke in. These people are overbearing and domineering. They don't care about anything else and can't stop them." .”
"What?"
Mrs. Zhang’s eyes were full of surprise.
Black Ice Terrace comes to the door, how is this possible? You know, he didn't do anything, how could people involved in Heibingtai suddenly come to kill him.
Could it be...?
Mrs. Zhang thought of replacing Pang Shuangxi.
Only this matter could lead to the arrival of Black Ice Platform. The problem is that he always acts cautiously and never makes any mistakes. Moreover, it is Pang Shuangxi who replaces him. It should be impossible for someone behind him to cause problems.
Mrs. Zhang calmed down and stood up to test the situation. As soon as he reached the door of the study, he saw the Black Ice Platform personnel and a group of Forbidden Army soldiers who broke in. The leader is clearly winning three.
Ying San glanced at Mrs. Zhang and scolded: "Are you Mrs. Zhang?"
Mrs. Zhang hurriedly said: "This villain is Mrs. Zhang. I don't know if the official is here. What's the matter?"
"What's up?"
Ying San sneered and said in a deep voice: "Are you still pretending to be stupid until now? When you arranged for people to arrest Pang Shuangxi, why didn't you pretend to be stupid? Now in front of me, you want to deny it. Hand over Pang Shuangxi. , confess all the crimes honestly."
Mrs. Zhang shook her head and said: "Master, I really don't know anything about Pang Shuangxi. What do you mean by what you said?"
Pang Shuangxi was indeed in the Zhang family and was imprisoned in the woodshed.
Pang Shuangxi's status was not very good, but he was a tough guy and never agreed to Mrs. Zhang's conditions. Even if Mrs. Zhang offered a price of one thousand taels of gold, Pang Shuangxi still disagreed and said Lin Feng would uphold justice.
As a result, Mrs. Zhang could only imprison Pang Shuangxi until the end was done. After Zhang Wu succeeded in replacing him, Pang Shuangxi had no chance, and Pang Shuangxi resigned himself to his fate and would accept the money.
If Pang Shuangxi had no family, Mrs. Zhang would kill and eradicate the family. The problem is, Pang Shuangxi has family.
Pang Shuangxi died mysteriously in Xianyang. If the Pang family came to Xianyang to cause trouble, Zhang Wu might be exposed. Therefore, in Mrs. Zhang's heart, she was not willing to kill anyone until the end, and planned to coerce and induce Pang Shuangxi to cooperate.
As long as Pang Shuangxi receives the money, everything will be fine.
It is illegal to kidnap Pang Shuangxi. In any case, it was impossible for Mrs. Zhang to admit it, otherwise it would be over.
When Ying San saw that Mrs. Zhang refused to admit her fault, she sneered in her heart and said, "If you don't cooperate, I will help you."
He was angry and angry, so he took action with anger. He swept out the sword, and the scabbard flew through the air and hit Mrs. Zhang's arm bones.
Crack!
Broken bones.
A shrill scream came from Mrs. Zhang's mouth.
Mrs. Zhang's body fell to the ground, curled up, her arms kept shaking, and a trace of blood flowed out from the broken place. The pain that penetrated the bone marrow made Mrs. Zhang extremely uncomfortable and her body was trembling.
Mrs. Zhang was still not afraid, she held her head high and said loudly: "I want to report it to the official. The people in Heibingtai abused the death penalty and beat people wantonly. I want to report it to the official."
Ying San sneered: "Your son Zhang Wu was arrested in the palace. He admitted that you sent people to arrest Pang Shuangxi, and then Zhang Wu entered the palace in his place. Your son has admitted it, but you still don't admit it? Since yesterday, Your Majesty has been I know that your arrest of scholars has been thoroughly investigated, do you think you can escape?"
boom! !
It was like thunder exploding in Mrs. Zhang’s mind.
Everyone was confused.
His well-maintained face completely lost its composure. The originally painful and angry expression was filled with despair at this moment. Zhang Wu confessed, how could he deny it even to death?
What a fart.
Mrs. Zhang ignored the pain in her arm and said quickly: "Master, I was wrong. I plead guilty. Pang Shuangxi is at home and is being held in the woodshed above."
"lead the way!"
Ying San gave an order.
"Yes Yes!"
Mrs. Zhang’s heart sank to the bottom.
As he walked, he said: "Master, my Zhang family is obsessed with things this time. It's because I got the news that many people kidnapped people like this, so I lost my mind. I am willing to report and expose other people. I sincerely ask you to be lenient and deal with this."
Ying San said: "Lead the way well. You don't need to report the other families. All the families to be arrested now have been fully investigated. Including the Su Lisu family, there are a total of nineteen families, all of which have been found."
hiss!
Mrs. Zhang couldn't help but take a breath.
Nineteen!
There are so many, no wonder the news leaked. Damn it, everyone followed suit and kidnapped people on a large scale. How could the emperor and Lin Feng not know?
What an idiot!
Mrs. Zhang secretly scolded the other people, they were really greedy for money and pounced on them when they saw the benefits. If the rest of the people don't get involved, and the scale is small, they won't be discovered.
So much so that he was caught now.
Mrs. Zhang was still thinking about how to get out, and then chatted up: "Master, I am willing to pay for forgiveness. This time our Zhang family has committed a serious crime, and our Zhang family is willing to spend all our family property and give out 10,000 taels of gold to pay for the crime."
Ying San said coldly: "Until now, I still refuse to repent and am stubborn."
He said no more, and a group of people arrived at the woodshed and rescued Pang Shuangxi who was tied up. At this moment, Pang Shuangxi cried with joy.
He made it through.
Ying San asked people to take Pang Shuangxi away, and asked Mrs. Zhang to be detained. Then she sealed off the Zhang family and took all the members of Mrs. Zhang's family into custody. As for the slaves and servants, they were all taken away. Although slaves and servants were never put to death, they were taken away first for screening and then dealt with individually.
Ying San took the people and continued to the Su family. His mission was the Zhang family and the Su family. The rest of the families are under the responsibility of others from Black Ice Terrace. Ying San came to the door of Su's house. After seeing the concierge, he barged in without letting anyone know.
This scene shocked the concierge in the mansion.
The Su family is a big family after all, so how could the government intrude into it? The concierge was panicked and quickly reported the incident, and all the private soldiers in the house gathered to stop him.
Su Li and Su Cheng arrived in the shortest possible time. When they saw Ying Sanyi and others breaking in, Su Li looked serious and said in a deep voice: "Who are you? How dare you break into private houses without permission? Is there anyone else in Xianyang?" No royal law?"
Ying San sneered.
Wangfa!
Naturally, there are royal laws.
However, the king's law is only given to those who abide by the law.
People like Su Li deserve to be killed.
Ying San looked at Su Li, murderous intent already filling the air. If Lu Guang hadn't been protected by someone, then Lu Guang would have been captured by Dong Wugui, and the Su family should die!
Ying San said in a deep voice: "Who is Su Li?"
"I am."
Su Li stood up directly and confidently, saying that his Su family had not committed anything, so he had nothing to fear, not at all. Although the Su family is not a big family in Xianyang, it is not someone that can be bullied by everyone.
Su Li was confident and scolded: "You broke into people's houses and committed crimes wantonly. If this news spreads, the court will not spare you.">
Ying San said: "You, Su Li, arranged for Dong Wugui to kidnap Lu Guang. Although the attempt failed, you still cannot escape responsibility. Su Li, what else do you want to say?"
Su Li's expression changed drastically.
What happened to Dong Wugui?
Dong Wugui is dead, not to mention that he found a middleman.
Su Li was a little panicked, but he was the head of the family anyway, so he managed to keep calm and said, "You misunderstood. Dong Wugui has nothing to do with my Su family. You came to me, but you came to the wrong person."
Ying San said: "The official announcement of Dong Wugui's death was that he was killed directly. This is to deliberately deceive you. Dong Wugui's situation has been fully investigated. Secondly, your son and Zhang Wu were drinking and chatting in Lehefang. , Zhang Wu said that you, Su Li, want to kill someone for your son. Combining the two, there are both human and material evidence, what are you quibbling about? "
After Su Li heard this, he knew it was okay to quibble.
It’s over!
His son was also stupid and actually told Zhang Wu, which gave him another clue to prove it.
At this moment, Su Li's legs weakened and he fell to the ground and shouted loudly: "I was also temporarily blinded by interests. Fortunately, Dong Wugui's defeat did not affect Lu Guang."
He gave in immediately.
In front of the black ice platform, Su Li lost his confidence.
Ying San looked at Su Li who was inconsistent and sneered in his heart. Su Li's performance was not as good as Mrs. Zhang's. Also facing Ying San, Mrs. Zhang had a tougher attitude before and held on for dear life. Su Li immediately gave in because of what Ying San said.
"take away!"
Ying Sanda waved his sleeves and gave the order directly.
The soldiers acted quickly and arrested Su Li, Su Cheng, and members of the Su family. As for the servants, they were also detained.
Ying San completed the mission and took the people back to the Black Ice Platform to deliver the report. After Ying San returned, the rest of the Black Ice Platform personnel who went on missions also came back one after another. Everyone who replaced the scholar confessed. After all, it was not complicated to capture people and rescue the trapped scholar.
Everyone returned and reported the arrest to Ying San.
After Ying San gathered up, he came to Lin Feng and bowed: "My lord, all nineteen families involved in the case, including the Su family, have been arrested. Three of the nineteen families are wealthy gentry families in Xianyang. There are also twelve The family is a businessman doing business in Xianyang, and the four families are noble families."
"Arrest all of these people."
"Fifteen of the eighteen scholars who were kidnapped came back safely. They were all tied up and did not succumb to these big families. There were three others who were beaten to death for not yielding. They are already dead."
The look on Ying San's face was filled with regret.
Three people died, which is a pity. After all, these people are specially recruited talents.
Ying San continued: "All the families involved in the case have been sealed up and the members of each family have been arrested. As for the servants, they are in custody."
Lin Feng nodded and said: "A lot of time has been spent in the morning. It's past noon and the afternoon is about to end. Immediately escort all the people to the execution ground outside Nancheng. I am preparing to put these people on trial."
Lin Feng had arranged the public trial in the morning, and now all he had to do was go.
"Here!"
Ying San turned around to make arrangements.
Lin Feng wore a black robe, rode a horse, and led a group of people to Nancheng. When Lin Feng's carriage arrived, it was already overcrowded.
Countless people were surrounding him.
There was an uproar when a notice was posted in the morning announcing that someone had arrested a scholar to replace him. The common people and scholars were even more shocked when they learned that Lin Feng was going to interrogate and deal with people from nineteen big families, and that they were going to be publicly executed.
You must know that these are nineteen big families, not one or two families, so the people are talking a lot.
When Lin Feng arrived, the people made way and Lin Feng went straight to the stage. Because there are so many people involved in the case, there are many people from major families, and the area is very vast. After all, according to Ying Jiuxiao's arrangement, everyone from each family was executed, and there were almost 800 people in the 19th family.
So much so that the execution ground was widened to accommodate more than 800 people kneeling on the execution ground.
If you want to behead people, they must be beheaded in batches. There are not so many executioners to behead everyone at once.
Lin Feng came to the stage and scanned the scene. He knew that many people, as direct and collateral descendants of various families, may have known about the matter of replacing the imperial examination, but they had not participated. There are even people who don’t know and have never participated, so they are considered innocent.
There's just no way, this is a matter involving the imperial examination.
Lin Feng agreed with Ying Jiuxiao. This time, everyone must know that the bottom line of the imperial examination must not be touched. Once touched, it will definitely affect the family. Without severe punishment, it is difficult to make people feel in awe.
Otherwise, the future of the imperial examination will be in trouble.
So this time, we would rather cause killings, but also let people know the consequences of touching the red line of the imperial examination.
Lin Feng stood on the stage, glanced at everyone present, and said loudly: "I am here today to publicly execute people from the 19th family. Why should these people be executed? Because these people's families are involved in the murder of the imperial examination Scholars who are on the list.”
"Opening a new subject to obtain scholars is the most important thing for the Qin State, and it is also the national policy of the Qin State."
"It happened that someone wanted to go against the trend and commit a crime. Since the list was announced, 235 people have been admitted. After the list came out, some wealthy gentry and noble people kidnapped eighteen people in exchange for their own children to replace them, so that they were discovered by me. .”
"There are other members of the Su family who took action against Lu Guang, the leader. Thanks to this kidnapping, they failed."
"These people deserve to be killed."
"After my investigation, I found that three people had been killed. Of the eighteen people who were kidnapped, only fifteen survived."
"It is very important to open courses to obtain scholars. Although many people have not been on the list this year, next year, and even the year after next, we will open courses to obtain scholars every year. We will recruit talents and enrich the officialdom, so that those who have the ability will not be Buried.”
"Some people kidnapped the scholars who were admitted this year. Next year, they will be even more ferocious and unscrupulous. By then, the imperial examination will become a tool for these powerful people to make profits. Such evil trends must be stopped."
Lin Feng's voice echoed around.
When the common people and scholars heard this, they were in an uproar, and countless people were angry.
Many of the scholars present have never passed the exam. However, it is not that they have never been able to pass the exam. They will still have a chance next year. The same goes for many other businessmen, common people, and children of big families. The imperial examinations will always be held, so they will have opportunities.
If people come to cause trouble every year, they will be in danger, and this will never be allowed.
"Kill them."
Some people in the crowd shouted.
"Kill them!"
"Severe punishment will not be tolerated."
"Kill these cowardly people."
More and more people shouted, making the scene noisy. Countless people are angry because these people from big families have touched the interests of the people. Eighteen people have been kidnapped this year. What if I am kidnapped next year?
No one wants to be kidnapped or have problems.
Su Li and Su Cheng knelt on the stage. Su Cheng looked like he was about to cry and lost his voice: "Father, my son doesn't want to die. My son doesn't want to die."
"Shut up, what's the use of saying this?"
Su Li scolded sharply.
He was also scared and he didn't want to die. The question was what could he do?
The emperor has issued an order to kill without mercy. There is no solution to the matter, and it is useless to panic. The other members of the major families, looking at the people below shouting, were all panic-stricken and regretful in their hearts.
But it was too late.
Lin Feng allowed the people to vent and shout. After a while, he said: "At any time, the imperial examination is the foundation of our Qin country, and no one is allowed to provoke or infringe. Today, everyone involved in the case, all Members of a large family will be killed without mercy. If one person commits a crime, the whole family will be implicated and they will be executed together."
"kill!"
Give an order.
The executioner at the front sprayed wine on the blade, and a shiny blade fell down.
There was a cracking sound, heads fell to the ground one by one, blood continued to spurt, and the bodies fell to the ground with a plop.
Members of the family were being killed one after another.
This was a batch of beheadings, with people constantly being pushed up and then having their heads chopped off.
Screams continued to sound.
The exclamations kept echoing.
These people who were about to be killed screamed loudly.
This scene was even more shocking, especially for some noble families, who were even more frightened.
Lin Feng waited for a long time, and after everyone was killed, Lin Feng said something more, repeating that the imperial examination would not be provoked, and then left with Ying San and others.
Lin Feng went straight back to the palace, where only Ying Jiuxiao was present. The six ministers and other court officials were all busy with their own affairs.
Lin Feng said: "Grandfather, nineteen families, 869 people involved in the case, all beheaded without exception."
Ying Jiuxiao said: "Lin Feng, are you intolerable?"
Lin Feng said: "Grandfather, you must have some unbearable feelings. After all, many people don't know and have never participated. They are innocent. I also know that the imperial examination is a matter that involves thousands of generations. If you don't control it now, you will commit a crime. If the cost is low, countless nobles and nobles will take risks, so we must kill them to serve as a warning to others."
Ying Jiuxiao said: "As long as you understand."
After a pause, Ying Jiuxiao said: "Tonight, I will host a banquet in honor of these scholars. When the time comes, I will be able to speak, and you will also be prepared to encourage these scholars. In short, we must let these scholars, regardless of whether they are from Qin State, , or people from the Qi State, or people from the Jin State. Or, whether they are nobles, nobles, or ordinary people, they must serve the Qin State. "
Lin Feng said: "I will try my best."
Ying Jiuxiao said: "Your kid's mouth is extremely powerful. It's not about trying your best, you have to go all out."
"Yes, I must go all out."
Lin Feng nodded and answered again.
