"Confidential matter?"
Zhao Mengqi was very surprised that a wealthy landlord with no official position could have any bullshit secrets.
However, Liu Xiuren's heart skipped a beat, and he began to murmur, was this bitch named Sun planning to betray the Liu family?
Folks from the countryside, maybe he really knows something, but if he is too busy to stop it, isn't he just asking for it? jj.br>
Gao Jia saw that Zhao Mengqi had become curious and his attitude was not so tough. He thought that the Sun family had indeed given him a lot of support since he took office, so he tried to say a few good words for him.
"Your Highness, the reputation of the Sun family in the countryside is actually quite good. They have been very active in paying taxes over the years. There were officials in previous generations, but they spoiled their only son. In addition, Sun Junjun is still considered an accessory, so he will not be executed with leniency. It’s not a big deal. In normal times, it would take several months to report to the imperial court for results, so you might as well just listen to what he says and make a decision before it’s too late.”
Zhao Mengqi took a deep look at Gao Jia. This dog official was quite good at finding opportunities, and he sold his favors when he got the chance.
"Okay then, come with me to the back hall..."
More than a quarter of an hour later, several people returned to the courtroom. Zhao Mengqi looked a little strange, and Sun Deliang couldn't hide the joy on his face.
Zhao Mengqi then told Gao Jia, "Sun Junjun postponed his execution for one month and let his wives and concubines serve in prison..."
Saying this, Zhao Mengqi himself felt awkward. How could anyone be imprisoned like this?
At this time, Gao Jia's verdict was also written. After it was stamped with the seal of King Yan, it was kept as a file and reported. Then he ordered the government officials to put heavy shackles on Xu Tianyi and five others, and put them into a cage in front of the government office for public display. As for the parade, It's too late today, let's go again tomorrow.
Sun Junjun temporarily saved his younger brother and was sent directly to the county jail. Xu San and other servants were accomplices and were beaten with twenty sticks and sentenced to three years of hard labor.
The relevant persons in charge of Wu Tower, Manager Qin of Leying, County Yamen Kong Yalu and others were also punished accordingly.
It was up to Zhao Mengqi to make the final decision for Zheng Xi and the female prostitutes who had been victimized to cancel their membership and settle down as good citizens again. Wanwan was worried that they would lose their livelihood in the future, so she planned to stay with her for now and make arrangements slowly.
Liu Xiuren remained silent. Although Zhao Mengqi did not show any strange behavior to him after he came back from the back hall, he was still worried and uneasy. When he saw that the case was handled, he left in a hurry with Liu Weizhen after saying goodbye. .
After all the irrelevant personnel left, only Zhao Mengqi and others, Gao Jia, and Gu Xixi were left in the courtroom.
Wanwan walked over slowly and gently, wanting to uncover the white cloth, but she heard Zhao Mengqi's dissuasion, "Ruochu, it's better not to look..."
"It doesn't matter, I can bear it."
Wanwan shook her head, lifted up a corner of the white cloth, and looked at Gu Xixi's exposed face, tears welling up in her eyes again.
After choking for a long time, Wanwan said, "Sister Gu has no relatives anymore. I have to pack her body and take care of her funeral..."
At this time, Gao Jia immediately said diligently, "Ms. Jiang, I have sent people to buy the best coffins and related supplies. There are several courtyards behind the magistrate's office, and the Qingjian Hall is very suitable for use as a mourning hall. In addition, Your Highness must not have a place to live yet, so he can be accommodated in the Yazhong. Your escort can live in Qintang. Behind Qintang there are Huancui Hall, Tusizhai and Chengzhai. Although they are a bit simple, they are more elegant and clean. , the house should be enough, Your Highness may be able to make do with it, after all, the county government is still safer than outside."
Zhao Mengqi was obedient and asked casually, "We are already staying here, so where do you live?"
"Back to Your Highness, Wei Chen will move to Yuan Shulou." Gao Jia replied with a smile.
This Yuan Shu Building is the gatehouse of the county government. Living there is equivalent to watching the gate.
Zhao Mengqi thought for a while. With more than a hundred people around him, it was indeed a bit troublesome to find a place to live, so he nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Gao, for your kindness."
Gao Jia happily went to find someone to clean up the house. Wanwan put away her sorrow and started busy with Gu Xixi's funeral. Although the four Zheng Xi were still injured, they still insisted on helping. Qian Duo, Zhao He and Zhao Feng Compassion overcame fear of the corpse, and he went along.
Zhao Mengqi and others also left the courtroom and came to the back hall.
After sitting down, Gengzhi couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, is that guy named Sun lying to us?"
"He is not that bold, nor is he that stupid. He dares to deceive His Highness. That is because the birthday boy hangs himself. He is too dissatisfied with his longevity..." Qian Xiaopang said.
Geng Zhi still looked like he couldn't believe it, "That happened more than a hundred years ago. It sounds outrageous. If it was true, it would have been taken away by someone long ago."
"What kind of riddle are you two playing?" Wu Qiong was confused, because when Sun Deliang reported the secret before, he was still guarding several young ladies in the court.
Zhao Mengqi knocked on the armrest of the chair and said slowly, "This is probably true, otherwise Sun Deliang would not dare to risk saying it. I think he should have been thinking about this shipwreck before. Maybe Xu Tian and a few of them He came to Wujiang just because of his instructions. He probably wanted to cause a conflict between the Xu family and the Liu family, and then profit from it and seize the cofferdam near the shipwreck site."
It turns out that the secret Sun Deliang mentioned has nothing to do with the Liu family, but it is also related to it.
Two months ago, the Sun family's house was robbed and some property was lost. After a search, several gold collars were found at the residence of a new villager.
Zhuang Ding and the stolen goods were brought to Sun Deliang, but Sun Deliang discovered that the gold collar, which weighed more than thirty taels in total, was not his own.
Although it was not his own property that was lost, how could a man with mud legs and a poor man whose home was destroyed by the flood get the gold?
After repeated interrogations, Zhuang Ding confessed that at that time, Jin Wushu raided the south of the Yangtze River and loaded all the looted property on ships to transport them back to the north. However, he was blocked by Chen Sigong in Taihu Lake and many ships were attacked by fire.
Zhuang Ding's ancestor was captured as a slave by the Jin people and was on one of the large ships. In the chaos, he discovered that the cracked boxes on the ship were filled with gold and silver.
Later, the ship sank, and Zhuang Ding's ancestors escaped by using water skills. Later, this incident was passed down in Zhuang Ding's family from generation to generation.
Originally it was just a story, thinking that the court would definitely fish up the sunken ship. I never thought about going there to take a look. Moreover, the villagers did not have those ambitions and did not dare to dream of getting rich, because even if they got the gold and silver, they would not be able to spend it. Instead, they would Bringing trouble.
Until the villager lost everything in the flood, he remembered this and tried his luck, so he went to the shipwreck site mentioned by his ancestors. As a result, although the ship was almost in decay, the boxes containing gold and silver were still there. Here, Zhuang Ding took away a few gold collars.
Unfortunately, he found that this thing in his hand was no different from a stone. Not only could he not take it out to buy things, but he also had to prevent others from knowing that he had become a village boy in the Sun family without food and clothing.
The location of the shipwreck was not far to the north of Dongting East Island. A polder was later enclosed there and passed into the hands of the Liu family.
If Sun Deliang wanted to salvage, the Liu family would definitely know about it. With the power of the Liu family, he would end up making wedding clothes for others, so he did not act rashly.
Zhao Mengqi estimated that the ship only had 400 to 500 kilograms of materials at most. Even if it was loaded with gold and silver, it might not exceed 200,000 kilograms, which would be worth about one to two million pounds.
It sounds like the amount of money that the Sun family is willing to contribute, but his family's five hundred thousand yuan has too much money, such as calligraphy, painting, antiques, jewelry and jade, real estate and store deeds, etc. There are real precious metals in this sunken ship.
In Zhao Mengqi's plan, when the time is right, the currency of the Song Dynasty must be reformed. This precious metal is naturally the basis of the reform. Of course, the more the better.
In addition, Sun Deliang also mentioned that the cofferdam actually belonged to the Liu family, but someone else's name was written on the land deed, which vaguely hinted that the Liu family had used similar means to control and occupy countless fertile fields.
While they were chatting about this matter, an old man came outside the county government office with his entourage.
It was still raining heavily at this time, but there were still many people gathered at the gate of the county government office, pointing at the row of cages beside the splayed wall.
In order to prevent these prisoners from dying early, the cages were placed on the verandah so that they would not get too much rain. However, the five people in the cages were all naked and still frozen like dogs, huddled together in a pile while carrying the shackles.
Looking at this scene, the old man couldn't help but shake his head and said to himself, "This kid has changed.
But this is too rough... Hey, forget it, I came here this time just to act decisively for him..."
The old man walked up the stone steps and arrived at the gate. He was stopped by the government servant, "His Royal Highness, King Yan, is stopping here. No idlers are allowed in!"
"I, Wu Qian, would like to see His Highness, please inform me." As he spoke, the old man took out his name card and handed it over.
"Wu Qian?" The yamen servant was a little puzzled. He lowered his head and looked at the name card. There were only five simple words: "Wu Qian, the Duke of the State."
The yamen servant suddenly panicked and said, "Young man has eyesight but cannot see Mount Tai. Please forgive me, Prime Minister Wu."
Wu Qian didn't care and waved his hand, "Go and report it quickly."
The yamen servant held the name card in his arms and ran quickly into the county yamen.
Not long after, Zhao Mengqi hurried over, came to Wu Qian and saluted first, "Meng Qi has met Mr. Wu."
Wu Qian turned sideways and returned the greeting, "Your Highness is the king, and the courtesy of a king and his ministers cannot be neglected. I, the veteran Wu Qian, pay my respects to Your Highness."
Zhao Mengqi stopped worrying about etiquette when he was done with his posture, and stepped forward to help Wu Qian, "Let's go in and talk."
"Your Highness is very kind, and I appreciate it very much. However, I can still walk on my own. Your Highness, please ask me first." Wu Qian politely declined the help.
This old man is indeed as stubborn as the legend says.
Zhao Mengqi did not force himself, so he walked ahead and led Wu Qian into the back hall.
Seeing that Wu Qian's clothes were still wet in many places after he took off his raincoat, Zhao Mengqi quickly ordered someone to prepare a brazier with ginger soup.
Wu Qian didn't care at all, "It doesn't matter, we'll do it soon."
"You are the pillar of the Song Dynasty. You don't dare to be careless about your body. If something goes wrong, Meng Qi will be the sinner of the Song Dynasty."
The reason why Zhao Mengqi respected the old man Wu so much was because it was Wu Qian who wrote twice that year, suggesting that the prince should be carefully selected from the royal family, so that he could succeed him as the prince. Secondly, Wu Qian was a famous minister and capable official who was diligent and noble. The Song Dynasty made many contributions.
Four years ago, after Zheng Qingzhi's death, Zhao Yun appointed Xie Fang Shu as the left prime minister and Wu Qian as the right prime minister. However, in order to prevent the emergence of a powerful prime minister, Zhao Yun played a balancing act and did not clarify the power and responsibilities of the two.
However, there can only be one boss in the power field, so Xie and Wu began to have conflicts. As a result, the court also showed signs of dividing factions and establishing parties, and there was a tendency to split.
In the first year of Baoyou, two years ago, there was a battle between officials and officials, and they impeached each other. In the end, Wu Qian was defeated and resigned.
After Wu Qian finished drinking the ginger soup, Zhao Mengqi asked, "Mr. Wu, shouldn't you be recuperating in Xiangshan Mountain?"
Wu Qian waved his hand and said, "Your Highness, we will talk to you later. I would like to ask Your Highness to give an order immediately to prepare Pingjiang Mansion for flood prevention!"
