The streets were so tightly blocked that anyone who tried to get through would be dreaming. And many restaurants and teahouses adjacent to the government office are now full.
All the private rooms were quickly occupied by people. It was obvious that there were not only three or five people in some private rooms, but they were so crowded that they could not fit into the room. Through the wide open windows, one can clearly see the vast scenery inside. The faces of the people are one after another, and many of them can only see one eye...
The trees and roofs facing the street are even more occupied by those naughty boys. There were even younger ones who had the courage to climb up as if they were not afraid of death, and watched the crowd below exclaim in surprise.
But given the crowded situation, even if the boys fell from above, they wouldn't be able to fall to the ground, and they might hit someone on the head. But with so many people sharing the risk, everyone felt it was okay. Anyway, it won't kill anyone if it hits it, and it won't kill anyone if it falls, so that's it.
The Yamen of Zhizhou Prefecture finally went to the hall, and the "mighty" and "quiet" sounds came. The people spontaneously became quiet and listened carefully.
Because today's case not only involved too many people, but also the amount of money involved was very huge, even to the point of being sensational. Therefore, it should have been interrogated by Lord Tongjian, but in the end, Lord Zhizhou had to bother with it.
The victim and the defendant came to the court one by one, and the witnesses were also brought up one by one.
Sang Fuyue never fights an unprepared battle - although this small lawsuit, in his opinion, is not a temporary battle that consumes all his efforts. But after all, this is the inheritance left by the ancestors, so even if it is to give an explanation to the ancestors, he has collected all the evidence that should be collected.
As for how complete the evidence he collected is...
I won’t talk about the bookstores that were previously well-known and were originally affiliated with the Sang family. There are backup documents in the yamen, and even if it is bought or sold, he clearly lists who the person is who handles it, and what the contract documents are drafted.
These are the properties of the Sang family on the surface. In fact, there is no dispute about the ownership. Sang Fuyue really made it clear.
What’s difficult is the Sang family’s secret properties—but it’s not difficult either. After all, although these properties were previously recorded in the names of the accountants and shopkeepers, the Sang family signed separate agency contracts with these "loyal" accountants and shopkeepers. The contract has the red handprints of both parties, and the terms are clearly listed, so it is very clear who these shops belong to.
It does not mean that after the original owner dies, the accountants and stewards who run it for them can take the property as their own, buy, sell and give it away at will, or even transfer the property to the names of their wives, children and grandchildren... That is all useless. operate. In front of the law, all these are not allowed and expressly prohibited. That is to say, no matter how you move it, the thing belongs to whomever it belongs to. It does not really belong to you just because you have the nominal right to possess it.
The people of Jinzhou knew how wealthy the Sang family was. After all, the Sang family ran the largest bookstore in Jinzhou, as well as a specialized papermaking workshop and printing workshop. Even the literati who published books had hundreds of them. Let’s take a look at the langhao and ink ingots made by the Sang family. They are famous and popular throughout the state.
With these hens that lay golden eggs, everyone knew how wealthy the Sang family was.
But the people of Jinzhou never thought that the Sang family could be so rich.
The Sang family also operates clothing and footwear businesses that are nominally unrelated to the Sang family. What's more, Fulong Street, which is adjacent to Fushou Street where the Sang family's mansion is located, the restaurants, teahouses, theaters, etc. on the entire street, and the shops on that street are all owned by the Sang family.
There was an uproar from the crowd.
The common people still couldn't believe it. They repeatedly exclaimed, "Does the Sang family manage their business in such a right way?"
"Don't they all say that the Wu family is the best management family in Jinzhou? But compared with the Sang family, the Wu family is nothing."
"The Sang family is well hidden, but if someone wants to investigate, I'm afraid they will find something fishy. In my opinion, someone has been keeping an eye on the Sang family for a long time. As soon as something happened to the Sang family, the Sang family's property fell so quickly It’s been carved up.”
"Then according to what you say, I think the death of the Sang family leader and his wife needs to be investigated carefully. Maybe it was someone who deliberately murdered them."
"Well, in the final analysis, it comes down to one thing: money touches people's hearts, but money kills people!"
The news in the court came out bit by bit, and gradually reached the ears of all the people.
The common people expressed various expressions of shock and emotion, and the wealthy people in Jinzhou who were sitting in the private rooms on the second floor couldn't help but sigh when they heard these voices.
They didn't know until now that the prosperous businesses now run by the Wu family, the He family, and the Yun family were actually robbed from the Sang family. Originally, they thought that those businesses belonged to those three companies, but they kept a low profile and only emerged in the past few years.
But in fact, they are really too sweet.
They still underestimate the greed in human nature.
Those three families could jointly take over such a big business of the Sang family, but they still had to kill a pair of orphans and orphans of the Sang family. If there were not many people protecting them at the beginning, the evil that those three families had done was so great that I still can’t think of it now. Makes your scalp numb.
But now that all the evil deeds have been done, it's no wonder that Sang Fuyue is so ruthless and wants to put people to death.
The case is actually really easy to adjudicate. After all, someone can bribe the Sang family's shopkeeper and accountant, and Sang Fuyue can naturally bribe the opponent's confidants.
As long as you have money, power, and power, and you use emotion, reason, and power, then no one will compromise. It's just a matter of time.
As for Sang Fuyue's targeted selection of people, those chosen were naturally not those with a strong will and who wanted to live and die with the master's family.
With their corrections, various documents and contracts, and the testimonies of various handlers, the Wu family, the Yun family, and the He family were all over.
In fact, as early as Sang Fuyue revealed his identity, their ending was already decided.
After all, they are not the only ones who use force to bully the weak. When they use such methods to deal with others, they should think that sooner or later, someone will use the same method to take revenge on them.
Next, if you do too much injustice, you will surely die. People are doing it and God is watching. It’s not that we won’t repay it, it’s just that the time has not yet come.
Although these three families have backers, they have indeed opened up all the links in the entire Jinzhou officialdom. But what's the use?
The one who directly talked to Sang Fuyue was Jinzhou Zhizhou, and Chen Zhizhou cherished feathers the most. Even if valuables are accepted at home, it is within reasonable limits.
In other words, Chen Zhizhou has nothing to hold on to, and he is not threatened by others at all.
In the entire Jinzhou, the biggest protection umbrella of the three families is actually Lord Tongpan. But Tong San was a fourth grade official, and he didn't see enough in front of Sang Fuyue. Although civil and military affairs are different, Minzhou's military commander Sang Fuyue seems to have no control over Jinzhou's civil servant Tongpan. But why is it necessary for Tongpan? He has to offend Sang Fuyue for those three families and fight to the death with Sang Fuyue. ?
He received a lot of filial piety for various reasons, but he thought he had given full reward. In other words, he is now in a completely separate relationship with those three families, and he owes nothing to anyone.
And the best thing is that although he is greedy, Lord Tongpan never accepts things that are controversial or may even bring inappropriate consequences. He doesn't accept jade and jade jewelry that are too valuable and recognizable, he doesn't accept shops, farms and houses, and he doesn't even want shares and dividends. What he wanted was very vulgar, namely gold and silver. Gold and silver are the most indistinguishable. As long as they are in the treasury, they belong to him. At worst, it can be melted and recast, so who can find fault with it?
Master Tong San escaped by chance, but thinking about it, if he hadn't been too cautious, he would have fallen into trouble this time. For this reason, he couldn't help but sweat on his back.
While he wiped the sweat from his forehead without trace, he raised his head and glanced at Sang Fuyue as if unintentionally... As the plaintiff, General Sang also appeared in court today.
However, since he was a third-rank official in the imperial court, Lord Zhizhou specially gave him a seat. As a spectator of the case, Lord Tongxuan happened to be sitting opposite Sang Fuyue.
Lord Tongpan never imagined that Sang Fuyue was looking at him at this moment. The two people's eyes suddenly met, and Lord Tongpan's hair stood on end, as if he was being stared at by a hungry wolf.
He gently cupped his hands, with a stiff smile on his lips, and saluted Sang Fuyue. Sang Fuyue twitched her lips obediently, and then looked away casually.
The facts of the case were too clear, and for some unknown reason, the defendant showed no sign of struggle and easily admitted all his crimes. Therefore, the case was settled smoothly.
In view of the egregious nature of the case, Master Zhizhou sentenced all the criminals harshly.
All persons involved in the seizure of the Sang family's property will unconditionally return the Sang family's property to its original owner; in addition, the operating income for more than ten years will also belong to the Sang family; in addition, in accordance with the "Business Regulations and Business Laws" As mentioned above, a fine of ten times will be imposed. According to the law, part of this tenfold fine belongs to the yamen, and the other part belongs to the victim. But considering that the Sang family had suffered a lot in this case, Master Zhizhou decided to use all the fines to appease the plaintiffs in the case, that is, the Sang family.
Of course, this is only a monetary penalty, among other things. The chief culprit, the heads of the Wu family, the Yun family, and the He family, were sentenced to fifty canes and three thousand emigrations. The heirs of the three families who participated too much in this case were sentenced to thirty years of cane and moved a thousand miles away. The merchant who only drank some Sang family broth would be fined with twenty sticks and moved a thousand miles away, in addition to the monetary penalty.
As for the accountants and stewards of the Sang family who betrayed their master, they were sentenced separately. Because the Sang family has a deed of sale for them, strictly speaking, they are slaves of the Sang family. A slave betraying his master is a very serious matter in this era. Therefore, all the family property was confiscated and returned to the Sang family. They also took fifty sticks and sent them to the army.
The case came to an end, and everyone was taken away one by one by the Yamen servants.
Those merchants who had taken advantage of the Sang family had already anticipated this disaster when they were cornered and shut out by Master Tong San. They had already expected it and were even prepared to lose their lives. The final result was only to be sentenced to exile, beaten with a rod, and fined and confiscated money. These punishments are all in accordance with the provisions of the law, and at most they are more severe. However, this is infinitely better than losing one's life.
Under the premise that the Sang family was powerful and they had almost killed people, General Sang was already showing mercy outside the law.
No one dared to say anything else.
Even though he knew that if he traveled thousands of miles after being punished by the rod, the chance of surviving was slim, he had already made complete preparations and had people taking care of him along the way. And his family has not been implicated by him, so this is the best outcome.
Being able to save one's life is already the best outcome.
Compared with the resignation and calmness of these people, the accountants and stewards who betrayed their masters all turned pale and trembled all over. Some were so timid that they were so frightened that they peed themselves and lay on the ground unable to get up.
After a long time, they shouted tremblingly, "Master, please spare your life."
"Young master, please spare us this time. We are forced to have no choice."
"The He family threatens me with my grandson, so I have no choice but to obey."
"Young master, for the sake of my father and grandfather who have sacrificed their lives for the Sang family, please give us a way to survive."
They were all in their fifties. At this age, they were sent to the army as punishment, and they all had charges against them. After entering the military camp, they were designated to join the forward camp. What is the Forward Battalion? That is to die.
Several people cried with snot and tears, "We don't dare anymore, please spare us, young master."
Sang Fuyue looked at them coldly, her eyebrows and eyes filled with coldness.
He can even tolerate those merchants who take advantage of the Sang family, but he cannot tolerate any of these so-called loyal servants of his own family.
If it weren't for these moles, the Wu family wouldn't have seized the Sang family's property so easily.
Only the stewards and accountants of the Sang family knew about the secret properties of the Sang family. If it weren't for their weak temperaments, none of the secret properties would have been saved.
He resented their disloyalty, and even more resented that their betrayal made his sister's situation worse.
They are all loyal servants of the Sang family! It was the person who was chosen by my father and grandfather and gave them the greatest trust and entrustment! But it was this group of people who were the first to defect!
He didn't give them any pleasure as soon as he returned to Jinzhou, just to make them suffer more. Otherwise, no one would say anything even if he killed them and scraped them, just because the Sang family still had the deeds of betrayal in their hands.
Sang Fuyue looked at these people coldly again. Not only did the depression in her heart not disappear, but she became even more depressed.
After greeting Mr. Zhizhou and striding away from the Yamen, Sang Fuyue couldn't help but think in her heart: Father, grandfather, what do you think of me? How come the people chosen are useless? If they had been more determined, with their help in secret, Nuan Nuan and Qing'er wouldn't have been in such an embarrassing situation.
It is precisely because of their rebellion that those with evil intentions are like wild wolves who have smelled blood, and they all covet the Sang family's already plump fat. As a result, my sister and brother were almost killed.
