"What's more," Cai Xianqing's fierce tone was intimidating, "a few days ago, when I was not waiting at the Yamen, you secretly held talks with various businessmen, and even told the servants to keep quiet... deceiving the superior, this is a first-class crime. !”
The county magistrate was so heartbroken that he had no other choice but to kowtow: "The villain has been deceived by ghosts. I don't know how many adults are here. He really deserves to die. But the lower officials have always been assigned to officials, and there has never been a big official." Unfortunately... I only hope that the three adults can forgive me, and Wu Sijing will be investigated and dealt with strictly, and I will never hide anything again!"
After hearing what he said, Cai Xianqing suddenly turned to look at Ye Yongjia and nodded to him twice. The latter understood the situation and walked slowly to the magistrate: "You two adults are angry, and I don't really want to punish you when I say these things to you. As long as you remain loyal to the court, we will not increase the crime."
"I am a minister of the emperor, how could I have second thoughts? Now I will catch the culprit for you and frighten the barbarians!" the magistrate said hurriedly.
"You don't need to worry about this. You have other things to do," Ye Yongjia waved his hand and said, "Maintain the status quo for now, and don't be in a hurry to make a clean break with them. It won't be too late to give you instructions when the real official document is approved."
"In that case, can the previous fake letter... be withdrawn?"
"I have offended you a lot in order to force you to speak," Cai Xianqing smiled and bowed his hands. "Actually, the content of the letter has nothing to do with the county magistrate. All you have to do is watch from the other side and watch them fall apart."
When the messenger arrived at Beitang, knowing the relationship between Wu Sijing and the county magistrate, he delivered the official document from the county government directly to the church. Bishop Wu was worried about the previous alienation plan, and suddenly received a document from the court, which made him even more depressed. The document was sealed in wax and could not be opened in time. In desperation, he had to have it sent to the gun factory and informed Many businessmen gathered together to discuss.
"The county magistrate and the old bishop didn't tell us either," Bearded Beard was the last one to arrive and sat down with a murmur, "What is the attitude of the court?"
"Anyway, the order has arrived. What do you care about what you did before? Do you want to open it?" Fat Fanshang glanced at the letter on the table.
"Well, I'll open it!" Beard rolled up his sleeves, reached out to take the document, untied the rope, tore the seal violently, flattened the paper, and read out: "Zhongshu Province sent Xiang Niuyuan to inform you. Fan Shang said: "After discussion by the ministers, the casting method is very inappropriate. Why are you so dishonest and defrauding the country? After that, the county magistrate should take charge of the construction of the factory, and no rash intervention is allowed!" '"
"Son of a bitch!" a businessman yelled angrily, "We worked so hard to set up a factory for him, but even if we get a little advantage, what will happen? Even the control of the factory must be taken away. They are just a bunch of robbers! I don't think it's necessary. We are begging for the blessings of this country, we have the backbone!”
"That's right, just break up with him!" The other two people also slapped their chests and shouted loudly.
"Give me a look." The fat merchant remained unmoved and calmly asked for the letter.
"What else are you looking at?" the bearded man asked angrily.
"The imperial court will not use such harsh words. Let me confirm." He remained stubborn.
The bearded man sighed and handed it over honestly: "Here."
The people next to him were still cursing wildly, but Fat Fanshang carefully reviewed the official document, flipped it back and forth a few times, and immediately frowned and said: "No. This letter is fake!"
"Fake...fake?" The bearded fist suddenly unclenched.
Fat Fanshang pointed to the seal on the letter: "You all come here and take a look. This chapter says something like 'Flowers, Birds, Fish and Insects' and 'Right body and pure mind'. How does it look like the official seal of the country? And there is no signature at the end, which is extremely weird."
Everyone just nodded and became quiet.
"So, the county magistrate deliberately deceived us? He..." The bearded man pinched his fingers in thought, "He has a good relationship with Wu Sixing, so he shouldn't target us."
"The duties of the county magistrate in charge of the factory..." Fat Fanshang suddenly slapped his knee, "What kind of firearms can that useless magistrate know? In the future, he will definitely entrust power to Wu Sixing! No wonder I sent him a letter a few days ago , he looked very suspicious, used the excuse of alienation, and burned the letter cleanly, it is most likely related to it. "
The bearded man thumped the chair and said: "No wonder he asked us to come up with the idea of casting, and lied to us that no one in China knows about firearms. Maybe he is secretly fanning the flames at this time, preparing to make us all empty!"
Fat Fanshang quickly advised: "Everyone, this is just a little guess on my part, and it does not rule out other possibilities. We must not let others lead us by the nose. What the facts are, we still need to explain. Why don't you stay here, I Go to the bishop."
Everyone was convinced and stood up to shake hands with him and bid farewell to him outside the factory.
With a little anger, Fat Fanshang went straight up the mountain and entered the church. He ignored the call of the gatekeeper, strode into the inner courtyard, and shouted loudly: "Old Bishop! I want to hear your explanation!"
Wu Sijing had already expected this outcome and had been waiting in the living room. Suddenly he heard the voice of the businessman, and his heart skipped a beat. After a moment of preparation, he went out with a smile on his face: "Why are you here alone? I'm still here?" I wonder why you haven’t gotten together in this humble home for several days..." After that, he stepped forward and shook hands enthusiastically.
The fat merchant slightly retracted his hands, took out the official document from his pocket, and said in a cold voice: "What is your intention in giving me the forged official document?"
Wu Sixing panicked: "I didn't... type or open it. I don't know what was written."
"The magistrate has been calling you brother and sister all day long. Don't you know what he is thinking?"
Wu Sijing took the opportunity to glance at the content of the letter and quickly defended: "This is definitely Ye Yongjia's alienation plan..."
"Today we are alienating, and tomorrow we are alienating," Fat Fanshang interrupted him, "Ye Yongjia has nothing to do, and he comes to alienate us one after another? I think you are betraying the interests of your fellow countrymen to gain benefits for yourself!"
Wu Sijing was scolded for a long time, and he felt very unhappy, but he couldn't let it happen, so he could only reply with a cold face: "If you want to exclude me, Wu Sijing, that's understandable; but you can't wrong a good person like this! If you don't want to listen to the old man's explanation, you can do it now I'll just put it in a bag and throw it into the sea; if you would patiently listen to my explanation, please come to the hall and talk!"
Fat Fanshang glanced at him, then immediately controlled his temper and climbed up the stairs with him.
"I don't even know where this document came from," Wu Sijing took a sip of tea and put down the tea bowl: "The magistrate handed it to me first, just out of trust and nothing else. Besides, when I saw this letter, the magistrate may not know about it. He would not dare to do this in the name of the imperial court. It is probably a trick set up by Li and Ye to force him to submit."
"Please continue talking." Fat Fanshang's mood calmed down a lot.
