The horses' hooves clattered and the wheels rolled.
Gu Zhengchen's face was uncertain, he opened the curtain in front and asked Zhang Pei, "Are you sure you read it correctly?"
Zhang Pei chuckled: "Master, we don't have any other skills, but these eyes can't make mistakes. The woman did go back to Guo Liu's house, but she went through the back door. Even though she was at a distance, she still heard someone calling her Third aunt. When I came back, I found out that this third aunt was married by Guo Liu in the second year of Hongwu."
Gu Zhengchen put down the curtain, his mouth trembling a little.
This drama is a bit dazzling. Judging from the current situation, the Geshan people have a close relationship with the Guo family, but no matter how close you are, you can't be as close as Guo Liu's concubine, right?
The bad old man Guo Liu is very bad. That’s right. The Geshan people are so messy. Are they really not afraid of being bitten by the Guo family?
"Don't tell anyone else about this."
Gu Zhengchen warned and squinted his eyes to rest.
The carriage drove slowly for more than an hour. As soon as it entered the vicinity of Xucun, an old man appeared on the official road. Zhang Pei quickly reined in the horse and stopped the carriage.
Gu Zhengchen frowned, and before he could ask any questions, he heard a cry for mercy:
"Spare us. If you take Lin away, we will have no way to survive."
"I don't care whether you have a way of living! Without the errands of the yamen, I will have no way of living. From today on, your land belongs to me. From now on, you will be my tenant. 80% of the grain will be delivered to you. I will keep you. Twenty percent survive!"
"Twenty percent is not enough to feed four people."
"Can you support me? Old man Wang, do you dare not agree? Do you believe that your family will be a family of three immediately?"
"me……"
"Come with me, sign the land deed, and send you back, otherwise, both you and your son's legs will be damaged!"
Gu Zhengchen heard the voice very familiar. He walked out of the carriage and saw a strong man grabbing an old man's hair and dragging him directly on the ground, ignoring the old man's wails.
"It's him!"
Gu Zhengchen narrowed his eyes, lowered his head, picked up a stone from the ground and handed it to Zhang Pei, saying softly: "Tell him to let go."
Zhang Pei grinned, weighed the stone, and threw it away casually. The stone hit the wrist where he was holding his hair, and there was a sudden burst of screams.
"who is it?"
Xu Lin was in pain and looked back angrily. When he saw the two people walking slowly, Xu Lin suddenly trembled and his eyes widened: "County, County Lord!"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Old Man Wang who fell to the ground, bent down to help him up, patted the soil on the old man's body and asked, "Old man, are you okay?"
Old man Wang looked at Xu Lin and did not dare to speak.
Seeing this, Gu Zhengchen said sternly: "Kneel down!"
Xu Lin knelt down with a plop, followed by Old Man Wang.
Gu Zhengchen helped Old Man Wang stand up again: "I asked him to kneel down, not you, old man. I just heard that he wanted to seize your family's property. Is this true?"
Old Man Wang felt sad and wiped his tears: "Yes, if we don't give him the land, he will kill us and make the land ownerless."
Gu Zhengchen looked up and said in a deep voice, "It's not dark yet. Why, if I don't light a candle for you, why don't you see the laws of the country?"
Xu Lin was so frightened that he kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, no, Master, I was wrong. I will never be greedy again. I..."
Gu Zhengchen was furious and yelled: "In Hengheng Township, you bully and rob property, and no one can survive! Xu Lin, Xu Lin, I am very disappointed in you! It seems that you did a lot of violence when you were the head of the county government. People, how can I tolerate you when you abuse the people like this!"
Xu Lin shivered.
Gu Zhengchen supported Old Man Wang, without even looking at Xu Lin: "Old man, let's go, I'll take you home."
"Go back, you can't go back."
Old man Wang became anxious and said in a panic: "There are thugs at home. If I don't sign the land deed, they will break the legs of all my family members. County magistrate, you have to save us."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly: "I am the magistrate of Jurong County, so I will naturally make the decision for you. Don't worry."
Old Man Wang felt relieved and limped towards his home. The village was similar to Zhishui, very backward. The dilapidated walls became the wooden horses for the urchins, and the wooden sticks became their swords.
Not long after walking, they arrived outside Old Man Wang's house. There were two people guarding the door. When they saw Old Man Wang coming back, he brought two strangers with him. One man came out, waving a stick in his hand and angrily yelled: "Old Man Wang, where is the land deed? "
"There is no land deed!"
Gu Zhengchen replied instead of Old Man Wang.
"Heh, are you from out of town? I advise you to stay out of Xucun's affairs, otherwise I will hit you with a stick and break your legs!"
"It's true that I'm from out of town, but I don't want to accept your advice. Zhang Pei, take us in. Anyone who stops us will be regarded as fighting against the officials handling the case and against the court!"
Gu Zhengchen couldn't help but go in.
The big guy standing in front didn't care about official duties or the imperial court. He was the head of Xu Village. When he saw Gu Zhengchen trying to force his way in, he hit Gu Zhengchen on the head with a stick!
boom!
A pair of hands slapped the big man's chest directly, and the man instantly flew backwards and hit the ground four or five steps away. The other man holding the stick was stunned. As soon as he turned his head, he saw a person appearing in front of him, and then he felt Someone grabbed his ear, and his whole body fell to the ground diagonally. Then he was kicked in the chest, and he took three steps back while grazing the ground.
"Don't do it!"
Xu Lin ran over, but it was already too late. Looking at the two brothers on the ground who were taking in more air but less out, he felt cold all over.
Zhang Pei stopped his hand and stood beside Gu Zhengchen. When he saw Gu Zhengchen frowning, he said, "I didn't kill him."
Gu Zhengchen breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the courtyard. An old woman came over and cried bitterly when she saw Old Man Wang. Then a couple in their thirties came out. The man squatted on the threshold and secretly felt sad. The woman picked up her apron and wiped her tears.
"Dad, let's go sue the officials!"
The man suddenly stood up and shouted through gritted teeth.
The woman quickly grabbed the man: "We can't sue the officials. If we sue the officials, we will have no way of living. At worst, the land will be given to the Xu family. It is better for us to be tenants than to be framed in the county government. If you are sent to the army or exiled, How else will our family live?"
The man was unwilling to give in and threw away the woman's hand: "Become a tenant? Why, that is the land we reclaimed! I heard that the new county magistrate takes good care of the people who are working as slaves. He provides enough food every day and also Beating Guo Jie in the hall is definitely different from Wu Youyuan, the previous magistrate. Let's go to the officials. Only in this way can we have a way to survive!"
"My child, you can't sue the officials. You have forgotten Xu Erya. He got angry and punched Xu Guang for beating his father. As a result, when he went to the county government, he was sentenced to three thousand miles of exile. So far, there is no news. I don’t know whether I will live or die. My parents are old and aged. If you are exiled, we won’t even have anyone to take care of you until you die."
The old woman turned around, filled with grief.
The woman interrupted: "Where can I find a good official?"
The old woman cried: "No, every official has a bad heart."
Old man Wang looked at the family and was too anxious to get in a word. When the old woman finished, he shouted: "Stop making any noise, this is the county magistrate."
"What sir?"
The old woman was crying and didn't hear clearly, and the man and woman were also stunned.
Gu Zhengchen stepped forward, grabbed the old woman's hand, and smiled warmly: "Old man, I am the magistrate of Jurong County. I am evil-hearted or not. This is not my business but yours."
The old woman was horrified and knelt down quickly: "The common people deserve to die, the common people deserve to die."
The man and woman knelt down, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Gu Zhengchen stretched out his hand to help the old woman up, comforted him, and looked at Old Man Zhang: "Are these your son and daughter-in-law?"
Old man Zhang quickly said, "Yes, this is my son Zhang Da and my daughter-in-law Wang."
"Everyone, get up."
After Gu Zhengchen finished, he looked back at Xu Lin who was at a loss outside the door. Xu Lin immediately knelt down and said, "Master, I know I was wrong."
"Old man Wang, go and call the chief and the old man of Xu Village. I am here to show mercy to them."
Gu Zhengchen gave an order, and Old Wang agreed and walked out.
Zhang Pei stood at the door like a door god.
Gu Zhengchen took the old woman's hand and comforted him again: "The person who doesn't know is not guilty, but the old man, Xu Erya, what's going on?"
Seeing that Gu Zhengchen was so young, the old lady gradually calmed down with her friendly tone. She told Xu Erya's story, and then said: "The county magistrate doesn't know something. For any dispute, the verdict will be either exile or banishment."
Gu Zhengchen frowned and recalled: "Xu Erya, Xu Erya, I have read the files and remember that in the fifth year of Hongwu, that is, in August last year, there was a man named Xu Erya in Xu Village who was sentenced to a hundred canes for causing disability. , exiled for three thousand miles."
The old woman lamented: "Making people disabled? County Lord, Xu Erya just punched Xu Guang, how could he be disabled? Besides, Xu Guang was still standing at the door just now."
Gu Zhengchen's eyes turned cold, he walked outside the door, looked at Xu Lin and said, "Which one is Xu Guang?"
Xu Lin pointed to the second person who was beaten.
"Zhang Pei, bring him over!"
Zhang Pei stepped forward, grabbed Xu Guang into the yard, and poured a ladle of water. Xu Guang woke up immediately. It looked like he was pretending to be comatose just now.
Gu Zhengchen stared at Xu Guang coldly: "Dossier Xu Erya fought with you and made you disabled. Why can't I see what's wrong with you?"
Xu Guang's teeth were trembling, and his words were a little awkward: "At that time, I, my leg was broken, and it only got better this year..."
Gu Zhengchen picked up a stick and threw it at Xu Guang's feet: "If you lied and couldn't find out the broken leg injury, I can help you become disabled once and avoid rewriting the file! Zhang Pei, check the injury!"
Xu Guang's face changed drastically and he was terrified.
Zhang Pei stepped forward and opened Xu Guang's trouser legs. He saw that there was not even a scar on his leg. It didn't look like it had been broken at all.
Besides, a broken bone is not a disability.
What is a disability? A disability is a broken bone that cannot be healed, a lameness, and a loss of use. It will remain like that for the rest of your life.
According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, generally a fracture can only be a serious injury, and Xu Erya was sentenced to one hundred canes, which was not suitable for exile.
If the fracture really caused the disability and became lame, then Xu would have to be sentenced to two hundred canes and three years in prison. He could not be sentenced to exile. If the sentence was reduced as appropriate, he could be sentenced to exile.
But in front of him, Xu Guang did not appear to be disabled, nor did he have any fractures or scars. It was obvious that someone had created an unjust case, and the key to an unjust case was the identification of injuries. The person who could create such an unjust case was not Xuguang, but the county government!
