Chapter 6, forced to a dead end
The biggest feature of the Wan County family massacre was that it was clean. Not only were all the parties involved dead, but even the Yamen's archives were burned to the ground, and all clues were cut off.
If nothing unexpected happens, there will be another unsolved case in the Dayan court's unsolved files whose murderer will never be known.
In order not to cause panic, the Dayan court would even use another death row prisoner to pretend to be the murderer to close the case.
The reason why the Mohist leader suspected Xi Xingchen was because Xi Xingchen appeared at the scene on the night of the crime and was lucky enough to be seen by another Mohist disciple. Xi Xingchen also mysteriously disappeared for a few days after that.
In other words, even the clues that the Mohist rudder had were limited to the Mohist disciple's words. If Xi Xingchen denied it, there would be nothing he could do for a while.
Now that Xi Xingchen has taken the initiative to plead guilty, things will be much easier to handle. At least it will not be an unjust or wrongful case.
Next comes sentencing.
Yuan Xingbang knew that this was not an easy task. As long as one of the three branches of the Mohist family was dissatisfied with the ruling, many troubles would arise out of thin air. This was exactly what Yuan Xingbang did not want to see.
Yuan Xingbang tried his best to use a gentle tone and said: "As for how to deal with it, the Discipline Hall will make its own decision. But I am also very curious, Xi Xingchen, you are walking in the world of the Mohist family. What is it that makes you knowingly commit crimes even though you know that Mohism is ruthless?"
Xi Xingchen knew that his next statement was related to his family and life, and he must not be impatient at all, so he took a deep breath, calmed down, and said slowly: "In April this year, I traveled to Wan County and visited a Mohist. Disciple, and told him that I wanted to know about the people and customs of Wan County."
"This Mohist disciple is called Dong Liangce. He is an old policeman who has been working in the county government for nearly 20 years. When I found him, he happened to be going to Yangjia Village, Zhuma Town, 40 kilometers away from the county seat, to assist the people there. We are dealing with a suicide case."
"Because Yangjiacun is relatively remote and the county government has many affairs, the county magistrate Dai Andong, who is short of manpower, felt that the case was not complicated, and Dong Liangce is an experienced veteran, so he only sent him there."
"Dong Liangce listened to my explanation of my purpose. At the same time, he also felt that I had some means to at least not cause trouble to him. In addition, it was a long way and it was a bit lonely traveling alone, so he agreed to take me with him."
Under the watchful eyes of all the Mohist elders, Xi Xingchen organized his thoughts and recounted his experiences during his trip to Wan County.
Dayan Dynasty, Jingxian thirty-fourth year, April 12th, yin.
April is an embarrassing month when the old grain has been used up, the summer grain has not been harvested, and there is no harvest.
This month is also the month with the largest number of refugees in the Dayan Dynasty every year.
According to Dayan regulations, in March and April every year, all states, prefectures, and county yamen must set up porridge shacks outside the city to provide relief to victims in all directions, in order to prevent excessive local refugees from causing civil unrest.
When Xi Xingchen and Dong Liangce came out of the city, they saw groups of ragged victims gathering from all directions towards Wanxian County.
Xi Xingchen looked at the endless stream of victims and couldn't help but ask Dong Liangce: "Master Dong, Wan County is located in the middle of the Tongtian River Basin, with crisscrossing rivers and fertile land. It should be the richest place in southern Xinjiang. Why is it here? There are so many victims.”
Dong Liangce heard this and sighed: "You are right, but in the past five years, Wan County has been hit by natural disasters."
When talking about natural disasters, Dong Liangce's tone was particularly heavy: "In the past three years, there was no rain in Wan County. The riverbeds dried up, the wells dried up, the crops withered, the land was bare for thousands of miles, and the people had no harvest."
"It took a lot of effort to wait until the beginning of spring last year, and the rain finally came. The people saw hope and hurriedly planted the seeds saved from frugality into the fields. Unexpectedly, it rained continuously for half a year, and the crops in the fields were flooded as soon as they turned green. It’s flooded and there’s no harvest.”
"After five years of God's torment, no matter how rich the people of Wan County are, they have been reduced to nothing." At this point, Dong Liangce said with a bitter face, "To tell you the truth, according to the current level of famine, in another day or two For months, the county magistrate can’t even afford porridge.”
"By then, the people of Wan County don't know how many people will sell their sons and daughters, or even exchange their sons for food."
Dong Liangce let out a long sigh again.
Xi Xingchen has traveled around the world on behalf of the Mo family in these years, observing the general trend of the world. Now he has traveled to most of the southern Xinjiang continent. It can be said that he has personally experienced the power of this natural disaster.
According to later historical records, the great natural disaster from the 30th to the 34th year of Jingxian's reign affected a wide area, covering almost the entire Dayan from south to north and from west to east.
Thousands of villages are left with dead people, and thousands of households are deserted and ghosts are singing.
Xi Xingchen thought of the miserable conditions he had seen along the way, and couldn't help but sigh: "In March, there was no rain, drought and wind, and the wheat seedlings were not beautiful and yellowed to death; in September, the frost fell and the autumn was cold, and the unripe ears of crops were all green and dry. The people are suffering. , perish, and the people suffer.”
"No, the case we went to Yangjiacun to deal with this time was said to be caused by a family that was so hungry that they couldn't stand it anymore, so the whole family hanged themselves together."
When Dong Liangce thought of the case, he lost interest in talking and waved his hand to signal Xi Xingchen to hurry up.
Although Yangjiacun was only more than 40 miles away from Wanxian County, due to the rugged mountain roads, Xi Xingchen and Dong Liangce arrived at Yangjiacun on horseback in the afternoon.
After arriving at Yangjiacun, Dong Liangce followed the rules and first met with Li Zheng of Yangjiacun.
The name of Li Zheng in Yangjia Village is Yang Sansong, and he is also the patriarch of Yangjia Village.
Yang Sansong is in his fifties, wearing a suit of clothes full of patches. He is skinny and looks like a dry old man in his sixties or seventies.
Obviously, even as the patriarch of Yangjia Village, Yang Sansong has suffered a lot in the famines of the past few years.
Since their lives were at stake, Dong Liangce and Xi Xingchen asked for a glass of water at Yang Sansong's home, and then asked Yang Sansong to lead them to the home of the sufferer Yang Xiaojin.
The home of the sufferer Yang Xiaojin is at the foot of the West Mountain, to the east and west of the home of the patriarch Yang Sansong, and just passes through the entire Yangjia Village.
As soon as they left Yang Sansong's home, they saw two little boys lying weakly on the field ridge, their eyes glowing blue.
Seeing these two little boys, Xi Xingchen's heart twitched inexplicably.
This is a sign of starvation.
Xi Xingchen took out a piece of bread from his arms. This was the dry food he prepared today. He was in a hurry and didn't eat on the way.
Xi Xingchen tore the cake in half and handed it to the two children.
The two children took the cake and immediately wolfed it down, regardless of their sobs.
Seeing this, Yang Sansong's mother-in-law quickly scooped up a ladle of water and handed it to the two little boys.
After the two little boys drank a gourd of water, they felt much better.
