The next morning, it was a little chilly.
Gu Zhengchen put away his sword, wiped his face, and went to the lobby to ask about the settlement matters. After the process was completed, he looked at the county magistrate Liu Boqin: "Are all the district chiefs here?"
Liu Boqin came out, cupped his hands and replied solemnly: "We are waiting outside the Yamen."
"Please come to the second hall."
Gu Zhengchen stood up to leave.
"The County Lord."
Liu Boqin quickly stopped, looked at the confused Gu Zhengchen, and explained: "There are ninety-two people in Jurong in various places, and the second hall cannot accommodate..."
Gu Zhengchen was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that he had given a "wrong" order.
There are more than 10,000 households in Jurong, and one hundred and ten households are one mile long. If you return a fraction, you can't go as close as a hundred miles long.
But the problem is that some places have a large number of people, such as Hezhuang, which has nearly 400 households. It is considered a town. It has three li chiefs. It is just a meeting. Just one representative can come. There is no need for all three li chiefs to go to the county. Come to the office.
"Then let them go outside Dongcang."
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while, the county government office only had more open space there.
Liu Boqin took the order and left.
Gu Zhengchen sat in the second hall for a while, and then walked to Dongcang until Liu Boqin reported.
Because it was a temporary choice and no high platform was built, Liu Boqin ordered someone to find a few stools and put them together to ensure that everyone could see Gu Zhengchen.
Seeing Gu Zhengchen arriving, Jiushili Chang saluted quickly.
Gu Zhengchen looked at all the village chiefs, stepped on the stool, cupped his hands, and said frankly: "I took office in Jurong. This is my first time as an official. I am inexperienced. I wanted to order one of the chiefs from various places to come, but unexpectedly I was mistaken." After passing on the order, all the exhausted commanders rushed over and showed their understanding."
Sun Pin, He Feng and other senior officials looked at the humble Gu Zhengchen and didn't even dare to take it seriously.
Gu Zhengchen lowered his hands and glanced at everyone: "Since everyone is here, let me get straight to the point. Today I am summoning the chiefs from various places for three things. The first thing is to overturn the verdict!"
"Reverse the verdict?"
All the village chiefs were immediately in an uproar.
There was a lot of discussion in Changcheng, Hezhuang, Zhaili, Wuxu, Jiashan, Liulitian, Hezhuang and other places, and everyone repeated the word "overturned", which was quite confusing.
Guo Liu, who was among the crowd, looked slightly cold after hearing this.
He Feng looked at Zhou Xin, but they had no words to say to each other.
As Gu Zhengchen's eyes became colder and sterner, a majestic aura floated, and everyone's comments gradually disappeared.
Gu Zhengchen said solemnly: "Overturning the case is an old case, an unjust case, and an unfair case! I will stop here. If the people think that the cases since the founding of Hongwu since the founding of the People's Republic of China were unfairly tried and handled improperly, there will indeed be unjust cases. Yes, you can go to the Yamen Chengfa Office to file your grievances. There is no need for the common people to ask someone to write a pleading. The Chengfa Office can write the pleadings for you without charging a penny!"
After Liu Boqin and Zhao Doubei heard this, their expressions changed.
Gu Zhengchen is not overturning the verdict. He is digging a hole to bury people.
In the past few years, the county government has dealt with many powerful families and treated them as unforgivable things. If this was revealed, even a hundred heads would not be enough to chop them off!
Sun Pin was shocked by Gu Zhengchen's courage.
Zhou Xin and He Feng's eyes were glaring, as if they were looking forward to it.
Guo Liu's face looked even more ugly.
Which family has the most help from the county government? Look at the Guo family in Jurong City.
If this case is to be overturned, then the Guo family's expansion over the years will be brought back to its original shape in one day, and they may even face prison!
This Gu Zhengchen is a bit ruthless!
Feng Zhong, the head of Liuli Dian, raised his hand, loosened the rope of the coir raincoat around his neck, and stared at Gu Zhengchen.
Other leaders have high aspirations, but more people remain silent.
In Hengheng Township, it was not just the powerful clans that caused the disaster, but also the village chiefs. If they allowed the people to overturn the verdict, wouldn't they be leaving no way for themselves to survive?
The new county magistrate had some tricks and wanted to affect everyone's interests. He couldn't agree to this. After returning to the village, he kept silent about it.
Gu Zhengchen seemed to have seen through everyone's plan and continued: "The village chief informed everyone about this matter. Don't leave out one family! Seven days later, I will send an officer to secretly investigate. If there are people who don't know, it will be the village chief's dereliction of duty." According to the law, the staff is responsible! I have been to Hezhuang, and the folk customs there are good, so let’s start from there.”
Guo Liu almost lost his temper. Damn it, what kind of customs are there in Hezhuang? Didn't you deliberately cause trouble for the Guo family?
After hearing this, Zhou Xin and He Feng looked at each other and nodded.
He Feng shouted loudly: "The county magistrate wants to clear up an old case in Hezhuang. We dare not disobey him. When we get back, we will report it to our house immediately!"
Guo Liu stared.
Even before you fell into the well, people started to move stones. Your uncle’s congratulations, are you not afraid of stones hitting your feet?
Gu Zhengchen was very pleased, and when he saw Guo Liu blowing his beard and staring, he directly called his name: "Guo Liu, I heard that you have a high prestige in Hezhuang, but you must convey the message properly on my behalf. If you fail to convey it, it will damage your reputation." Prestige and punishment are not selfish. You are old, so don’t provoke punishment with the rod."
Guo Liu looked at the sinister Gu Zhengchen and snorted: "I already know!"
Gu Zhengchen glanced around and saw that many of the village chiefs had unnatural expressions on their faces. He knew there was something hidden behind them and said bluntly: "At the same time, you should report to the people that if there is anyone who oppresses good people, seizes people's fields, robs people's wives and daughters, destroys people's houses, hurts people, If a person commits an unlawful act by causing heat damage, he must report himself to the county government within seven days. The official may reduce the first-class or second-class penalty at his discretion. If he is lucky and fails to do so within seven days, once it is found out clearly, the crime will be increased by one. wait!"
"Everyone, please remember, there are only seven days. If anyone thinks that the case is long ago and there is no evidence of innocence, so he can be free and content, then I will tell him that there is no perfect crime in this world, and he wants to take a gamble on me. If you are wise, you must think clearly whether you will be punished if the crime is reduced by one level, or your head will be lost if the crime is increased by one level! If you can't even make this choice well, you still want to compete with me, haha! "
When the village chiefs heard this, their faces looked a little better, but they were also uneasy.
Gu Zhengchen raised his hand to stop the noise: "The second thing, you should be aware of, is that the imperial court issued a decree that all autumn grains in Yingfu, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi should be made of colored cotton. Naturally, when Zheng Benguan first arrived in Jurong, , The number of acres of farmland is not clear. As the head of the village, you should weigh whether the cotton harvested by the people this year can complete the folding of cotton cloth and pay for the autumn grain."
There were no expressions from the crowd, and few were looking sad.
Gu Zhengchen thought that the people of Jurong could easily solve the problem of folding cotton cloth, but when he thought about it carefully, it was not the case.
Whether the people can finish folding the colored cotton cloth has nothing to do with the village chief. The village chief is only responsible for asking for the cotton cloth. Whether it is completed or not is the people's business. They only look at the results, let alone worry about the people.
Just as he was about to say something, Gu Zhengchen saw a liar come out, shaking a coir rain hat in his hand.
Feng Zhong walked towards Gu Zhengchen step by step.
Yao Zhen appeared next to Gu Zhengchen, staring at Feng Zhong sharply and putting his hands on his waist.
Feng Zhong stopped three steps away from Gu Zhengchen and said in a rough voice: "County Master, I am Feng Zhong, the head of Liulitian. Liulitian is divided into nine parts rice, half mulberry and half cotton. We don't beat much cotton. The imperial court's folding of colored cotton cloth has made it difficult for more than 200 households in Liulitian. When the documents were delivered yesterday, the people were already worried. Now that the autumn grain has not been harvested, it is difficult to fold colored cotton cloth again. "
Gu Zhengchen looked at Feng Zhong, got down from the stool, and said seriously: "It is because of the difficulty that I summoned you. If it was easy, why come here?"
Feng Zhong looked at Gu Zhengchen in confusion and asked doubtfully: "What does the county magistrate mean? I am a rough man and I can't understand it very well."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and looked at the chiefs: "Nearly a hundred miles long, Feng Zhong is the only one who is crying out for the people. Judging from this, the people below the other chiefs can easily fold cotton cloth and complete this year's autumn grain, right? ?”
Sun Pin, the eldest son of Zhishui, came out and said, "My lord, the people of Zhishui are also having some difficulties. As far as I know, at least fifty households have no cotton. It will take a lot of effort to use cotton cloth to transport autumn grain."
Gu Zhengchen saw more and more people wanting to come out, and pointed to the scribe Lin Shan on the side: "Report to the scribe."
When Sun Pin saw that he was about to report, he became a little uneasy and quickly said: "Master County, although there are more than fifty households without cotton, I promise that the cotton cloth will be collected on time and there will be no delay!"
Feng Zhong was a little disappointed.
Originally, this was the case. The county magistrate just wanted to see where it was difficult to complete the task, so he kept an eye on the spots to ensure that there would be no problems and that he would not be burdened with his official career!
Also, as a county magistrate, as long as the money and food are paid well every year and the account books are correct, promotion will be inevitable in the future.
Gu Zhengchen looked at the uneasy Sun Pin, the disappointed Feng Zhong, and the hesitant commanders. He turned around and stood on the stool, then faced the crowd and shouted sternly: "I asked you to report, not to forcefully rob or torture you." The people sold their property and grain to buy cotton cloth to pay the autumn tax, but they found a way out for the people to relieve their difficulties! I come from a poor family and know the hardships of the people. I hope you will also sympathize with the people and sympathize with their hard work and pain. Don’t do evil to the people!”
Feng Zhong's eyes lit up and he asked quickly: "Does the county magistrate really have any idea?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at the crowd and became angry. He raised his right hand and extended his index finger: "Before I took office in Jinling, I have governed the people with only two words: eating! I, Gu Zhengchen, came to Jurong not to suppress the Qiang clan. The purpose of a wealthy family is not to bully their subordinates, district chiefs, and armor chiefs, but just so that the people here can have enough to eat and have a job in jail!"
"Whoever does not allow the people to have enough to eat is my enemy! Whoever robs the people of their jobs is also my enemy! Everyone is here today, so please remember carefully that Jurong is eleven thousand five hundred and six Thirteen households, 65,912 people, I want to make sure that everyone can afford to eat and have enough to eat! The imperial court uses cotton cloth to pay autumn taxes, which is a problem for some people, but in my opinion Come on, isn’t this an excellent opportunity?”
Feng Zhong was stunned, Sun Pin was stunned, and He Feng and others were also a little confused.
opportunity?
County magistrate, do you call this pitiful thing an opportunity?
Gu Zhengchen nodded heavily and shouted resolutely: "Jurong has been in poverty for a long time, and the people have not had enough to eat, and not one person or one household has enough to eat. If we want to eliminate poverty and make all people prosperous, we must follow the path of industry! And this is what I want to do." The third thing!”
"You all still remember Wunijing eighty years ago. Under the leadership of a woman named Huang Daopo, everyone in Wunijing had food to eat, and Songjiang became a major cotton spinning center because of her. Eight Ten years from now, I will take advantage of the imperial court’s success in folding colored cotton to build Jurong into the most advanced cotton spinning center in the Ming Dynasty!”
