Not long after, Xiao Yi came in with An Ying. Dr. Guo then explained the situation of today's trial in detail, and Su Huangzhe asked: "Miss An, I heard that you have been running around these days. I want to hear about the progress on your side."
An Ying nodded and said: "I just have something I want to talk to the adults about. I have been reading the confession given to me by Mr. Su these days. I went to the Shen family to look at Huzhou's account books." An Ying thought for a while. He said: "Luo Shi's confession seems very reasonable, but have you noticed that the whole thing requires too many coincidences based on her confession, but it is a summary made after the matter is completed."
"Little girl, there are many coincidences in this world. To be honest, I have handled more than a thousand cases, big and small, and many of them were only possible because of coincidences. I just concluded a big case a few months ago. The blacksmith in the east of the city killed We found a family of three named Wu at a tea stall in the south of the city. The case was completely confusing, and the blacksmith had no contact with the Wu family. When we first investigated the case, there were not even any suspects. Fortunately, Mr. Su has a photographic memory and knows the details by heart. After a few days of patrolling, the detectives found out that a strange man had appeared in the alley of Wu's house that night. We still had more people, so we cast out the net and found the man in the east of the city, but we couldn't find anything. He just heard people say that the mutton restaurant in the south of the city is good, so he went there a few times. There was nothing we could do. Fortunately, we found the bloody clothes from his house and the belongings of the Wu family, so he confessed. Guess the reason? ?” Mr. Guo threw a piece of walnut meat into his mouth and said, “The blacksmith was going to work outside the city when he met the Wu family’s daughter-in-law bringing back tofu. The cart that the Wu family’s daughter-in-law was transporting tofu was a little broken. The blacksmith helped to repair it. Who would know about these small things if the person involved didn't tell them? Later, the blacksmith really heard about the good mutton restaurant in the south of the city. It was already dark when he returned home after dinner. He was not familiar with the roads in the south of the city. , just walking around in the alley, who knew he met the Wu family’s daughter-in-law. The Wu family’s daughter-in-law gave him directions, but who knew that when the Wu family’s elder man saw her, he thought his daughter-in-law was stealing someone, and he wanted revenge but was afraid of embarrassment. Together with my wife, I covered the blacksmith with a sack and dragged him home for a good beating. The blacksmith drank some wine and was beaten for no apparent reason. Later, the Wu family's wife released him from the sack and picked up the stove. They burned the fire stick and stabbed the Wu family's mother and son to death. The Wu family's daughter-in-law was accidentally stabbed to death when she stopped them. The blacksmith sobered up and upon seeing this, he secretly took some of the Wu family's belongings and ran away over the wall. " Mr. Guo took another sip of tea, shook his head at An Ying and said, "Look, looking back on this closed case, it's not all a coincidence. Don't get into trouble and get out of it."
Dai Chang also smiled and said: "Miss An, this case is like this sometimes. If you think too much, you will become more and more unclear. For example, I also wonder why Luo Shi wants to take revenge on Zheng Ping in this way. In my opinion It’s simply inexplicable. But the evidence is conclusive, the confession is correct, and there is no suspicion of being forced into a crime. No matter how unreasonable the facts are, they are facts.”
An Ying looked at Su Huangzhe, thinking that they had the same idea. Su Huangzhe winked at her and motioned for her to continue.
"I have never tried a case, but I just don't understand some parts. Sir, just listen to what I say." An Ying smiled and took the plate held by Yayu and said, "This is a pine nut roll made by myself at home." , mung bean cake, and red bean cake. I was thinking about the case that the adults had been reviewing for a day, and I thought that I would not be able to come until tomorrow. When brother Xiao Yi came to see me just now, he thought that the adults must not have eaten serious food, so he brought it with him Here are some snacks. My lords, just listen to what I have to say for your entertainment."
Guo Langzhong saw that the mung bean cake was extremely small. He pinched a piece with his hands and threw it into his mouth. He immediately felt that the fragrance was overflowing. The pastry was delicate and moist, and the taste was slightly sweet. It was more of the fragrance of mung beans. He couldn't help but praise: "Little Girl, you’re really good at making these snacks. It’s okay, just tell us and we’ll listen.”
An Ying raised his eyebrows at Su Huangzhe. Su Huangzhe thought that this girl used to be cautious and polite, but now she is so out of control and even a little arrogant. I guess this is her true nature, just like that day at the prison door of the Ministry of Punishments. , very courageous, and found it interesting, so he smiled and lowered his head to pick up the snacks to eat, but he heard An Ying say in his ears: "I have read the archives and records of Shuanglin County for thirty years, and there is actually not much in them. Luo is originally from Shuanglin Town. About twenty-three years ago, Luo's grandfather Luo Mao discovered twelve wild tea plants in Shuanglin Mountain and began to make tea from them. The special feature of this wild tea is that its leaves are white, and after brewing, the tea soup After Ruxue became famous, it was promoted as the tribute tea of Huzhou Prefecture. Luo Shi said that the Luo family could sell it at a high price in addition to paying tribute every year. All six members of the Luo family lived on this tea. According to the Luo family's confession, Zheng Ping's My father, Zheng Yishun, came to Shuanglin Town from Huzhou, and he and He Qing, who was the Prime Minister of Shuanglin County at the time, planned to adjudicate those few wild tea plants as belonging to the Zheng family, causing the Luo family to lose their livelihood. I checked the judgment and vouchers from that year , the matter is probably similar to what Mr. Zheng said. This method of the Zheng family is also common in the competition between tea households, but the evidence of the fifty taels of silver is also there, and there is also a record of Mr. Zheng taking the silver from the Shen family bank. But I checked the situation of the Luo family and found that except for these twelve wild tea plants, there were no other tea trees in her family. I calculated that even if each tea tree could harvest three kilograms of fresh leaves from these twelve wild tea plants, then all the The wild tea we produce is only thirty-six pounds of fresh leaves. To be honest, some of our tea trees can’t harvest even three pounds. That thirty-six pounds of fresh leaves can only be used to make seven or eight pieces of tea cake. I just don’t understand. , these seven or eight pieces of tea cakes are barely enough to pay tribute, how come there are other fresh leaves to make tea cakes for sale? It shouldn't be the source of the family's livelihood. I would say that these ten or so wild tea plants are spread into Tribute tea is the only thing that destroys their family's livelihood. You see, it requires manpower and firewood, so it's not cost-effective. There is no such way to compete for tea trees among tea farmers."
At this point, everyone else in the room fell silent. Mr. Guo put down the cake in his hand. Su Huangzhe smiled and said, "It seems that we don't quite understand the inside story." "It's normal for adults not to understand the details. In my family There is also a share of tribute. That is because my family has about ten acres of tea gardens. Given the scale, my family will pay part of the tribute, and the government will issue a tea sale document to my house and sell the remaining tea cakes. If there are such sporadic tea trees, Gu Zhushan North There are also some that are harvested and processed by nearby farmers. If you want to turn it into tribute tea, you can simply hand over the tea trees to the government or let the big tea farmers nearby take care of it. It is not worth the money to do it yourself." An Ying continued: "It would make sense for the Luo family to make a living on tea trees before the tribute tea was made. But judging from Luo's confession, after the tribute tea was made, the Luo family still relied on tea trees for their livelihood. This is not right.
Also, I saw in the household registration that the Luo family successively purchased 20 acres of good paddy fields in the next few years. Where did the money to buy paddy fields come from? I checked the delivery documents and found that the twenty acres of paddy field cost thirty taels of silver. This is consistent with what Zheng Ping said that his father had paid fifty taels of silver to the Luo family. Because I read the confession of the neighbor of the Luo family in Shuanglin Town. Thirty years ago, his family had three huts, but they built a brick house behind them. They said they earned money from selling tea. I think it seems like Zheng The remaining twenty taels of the family's fifty taels of silver. "
