Wucheng Mountain, southern foot.
Zhou Xin, the head of Hezhuang Village, sat on a stone outside the mountain pass, waving a branch in his hand, feeling quite bored. He looked at the squad leader Yang Liang who was standing at the mountain pass looking out, and shouted: "The sun is going to set. At night The mountain road is more difficult to navigate, and I don’t think the county magistrate will go out to the mountains tonight, so the squad leader might as well come over and talk to me to relieve his boredom."
Yang Liang was anxious and turned around to reply angrily: "If the county magistrate doesn't go out, he won't have the time to chat and laugh."
Zhou Xin was helpless.
After hearing that Gu Zhengchen came, the Jurong County Government set up the Integrity Bank. Yang Liang was rightly worried about Gu Zhengchen. If Gu Zhengchen was eaten by a tiger, the Integrity Bank would cease to exist.
It’s about self-interest, not necessarily genuine concern.
Zhou Xin watched the sun set, jumped down from the stone, stretched his muscles, and complained: "How come Han Qiang and He Feng haven't come yet? Okay, Sunset will replace them."
Yang Liang sighed and walked down from the mountain pass. Not far away, Han Qiang and He Feng were already coming together.
Han Qiang stepped forward, looked at Yang Liang's sad expression, and said comfortingly: "Don't worry, the county magistrate will come back safely. It's all in vain. Go back and have a good rest."
Yang Liang agreed and was about to leave when he suddenly raised his hand.
"What's wrong?"
Han Qiang asked doubtfully.
"Stop!"
Yang Liang became serious and listened carefully.
Faintly, there was a sound coming from the mountains.
"The county magistrate is back!"
Yang Liang rushed to the mountain pass, and Han Qiang, He Feng, and Zhou Xin also followed.
Standing at the mountain pass, the sounds in the distance were indeed clearer, but because of the sunset and the cover of the trees, I didn't know where the people were.
Yang Liang was so angry that he made a trumpet with his hands and shouted towards the mountain: "The County Lord!"
The forest fields are whistling, and hundreds of birds are flying.
The sound fades away.
Yang Liang and Han Qiang waited for a while, but no one responded for a long time. When they were uneasy, a shout came from the distance: "Wait outside the mountain pass."
The voice was shouted by a group of people. Yang Liang and Han Qiang looked at each other and became excited.
He Feng and Zhou Xin quickly lit torches and waved them at the mountain pass.
After nearly half an hour, a group of people finally arrived at the mountain pass.
Lin Sancai led the others to lift the big cage out of the mountain pass and put it down. Everyone gasped and picked up a sweat towel to wipe the sweat from their foreheads.
Yang Liang didn't know these people, and Han Qiang was also a little confused.
Zhou Xin held the torch and approached the cage. He kept looking closer and closer. A low tiger roar was accompanied by a claw rushing towards him. Zhou Xin was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. The torch fell on Lin, and he crawled back in panic, shouting piercingly. With: "Tiger, tiger!"
He Feng turned around and ran, but when he ran a dozen steps and looked back, he saw Yang Liang and Han Qiang picking up the torches, and under the light and shadow of the torches, a familiar figure came out:
"Gu Zhi County?!"
After He Feng saw it clearly, he quickly ran back.
Gu Zhengchen looked at the frightened Zhou Xin, stretched out his hand to pull him up, and said with a smile: "I'm the official. This time I went into the mountain to get rid of tigers for the people. Now that the tigers are in the cage, what's the point of fear?"
Zhou Xin crossed his legs, always feeling a little embarrassed.
It’s really scary to death but it’s not worth your life. If you want to kill a tiger, you can kill a tiger. If you catch any live tiger, you can bring it back...
"My lord, who are these people?"
Yang Liang looked at the people coming out with some surprise. There were only about twenty people when they entered the mountain, but there were more than a hundred people when they came out.
Gu Zhengchen took out a brochure and handed it to Yang Liang: "Go to Hezhuang to gather some young people. It will be harder tonight. According to this brochure, go from house to house and inform them, so that they must send someone to the county government tomorrow morning. He Feng , Zhou Xin, please cooperate with us on this matter without any mistakes. Also, find a truck."
Yang Liang took the book and looked through it a few times. Seeing Gu Zhengchen's urging, he took He Feng and Zhou Xin to Hezhuang first.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Lin Sancai, Sun Erkou and others: "I know that you are anxious to return home, but there are some things that need to be clarified at the county government office and recorded in the records. Don't worry about it tonight, right?"
"Not urgent."
Even though everyone was eager to go home, they knew the kindness Gu Zhengchen had given them, so they would naturally cooperate actively.
The tiger cage was placed on the cart and the group headed towards the county seat. They did not arrive at the county seat until midnight. Gu Zhengchen took the seal and ordered people to open the city gate and everyone entered the county government office.
A group of prisoners were naturally put into prison cells. Zhao Hailou, Wang Liang and other Beijing troops were arranged by Gu Zhengchen to build bunks on the floor of the magistrate's house, while sixty-two miners were brought to the lobby.
Gu Zhengchen didn't have time to rest, so he ordered someone to prepare some food and asked Xu Wen from Huimin Pharmacy to come over. Lin Shan, the scribe, was already grinding and picking up his pen. With the questions and answers, files were being formed one after another.
The torture chamber sent over the past files, and after comparing the two, it was obvious that the flaws and problems in the files could be noticed. It's nothing more than making things big, forging injuries, forging testimonies, and heading towards exile or imprisonment.
Gu Zhengchen overturned the old case, rewrote the file, sealed one side, and then continued questioning. Those who had been wronged, exiled, and imprisoned were all given a new lease of life at this moment, and the guilt that had been placed on them was swept away.
Although many files still need to be interrogated a second time, witnesses are found, people involved in the interrogation are brought up, and reported to the government again, Gu Zhengchen believes that the unjust case will be ended and justice will return to Jurong.
The lobby is brightly lit.
Luo Shao led the housekeepers to bring in some quilts. Some miners who had completed the interrogation found a corner and fell asleep.
After walking all the way, my body was extremely exhausted.
Gu Zhengchen picked up a cup of strong tea, drank it in one sip, and asked Gu Cheng to make it stronger, and then continued to interrogate specific matters, search files, rewrite files, and interrogate doubts...
Time passed little by little, and the unjust cases from previous years were resolved one by one.
Fifty-eight of the sixty-two people were victims of the Yin Yang Files. Of those who were sold to the mines, only four were robbed.
Guo Baijin, Guo Jie and others did not choose the low-cost method of directly plundering the population, not because they did not want to, but because too many missing people would cause panic among the people, and these panics would bring a lot of trouble. For example, after the censor passed a If you take a trip, you may find the problem immediately.
But the yin and yang files are different. No matter how it is an unjust case, it has a beginning and an end after all. The county government has made a decision. Most people can only accept their fate if they are wronged. There are a few ignorant people who want to appeal, but there is not much fuss. The file is there, and the hurt is there. That's it, it's reasonable and well-founded, and you're not afraid of being sued. In addition to the prisoners who are exiled or imprisoned, their families will not look for them, but their families will look for missing persons.
The direct reason why Sun Niang was locked up in the prison cell was the grave digging incident. The deeper reason was that she was obsessed with the disappearance of Sun Er's family and complained several times, which angered some people.
It wasn't until dawn that Gu Zhengchen finished asking everyone.
"County Lord, you'd better rest first."
Lin Shan looked at Gu Zhengchen, whose eyes were bloodshot, and advised.
Luo Shao, Zhou Mao and others couldn't bear it and asked one by one.
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand and pointed seriously at the files on the side: "Behind these files are human lives! It's shocking and chilling to the bones. How can you feel sleepy at this time? Gather everyone and ask separately about the internal affairs of the mountain and mine. , let him record the people he saw in the mine one by one, when new people joined the mine, when they were transferred out, whether there was any news later, how many collapse accidents there were, how many people died... one response to the news, all record it."
Luo Shao, Zhou Mao and others agreed one after another.
Lin Sancai looked at Gu Zhixian chewing tea leaves and quickly replied: "There were sixteen people in my mine at first, but I don't know what happened later. About December of the third year of Hongwu, ten people were transferred away. .”
"Do you still remember the name of the person who was transferred?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Lin Sancai thought about it: "I probably remember a few, including Wu Zhe, Xu Beifeng... Lin Xun, and I can't remember the rest."
Gu Zhengchen frowned, these names were not among the sixty-two people.
"and after?"
Gu Zhengchen continued to ask.
Lin Sancai sighed: "Not much changed after that. Until the end of August last year, a man named Xu Erya was sent to work in the mine. However, this man only stayed with us for about half a month before he was killed. It was taken."
"Xu Erya!"
Gu Zhengchen stared and saw that this person had indeed appeared in the mine.
"Who took it away?"
"Guo Cheng."
"Guo Cheng is dead!"
"By the way, there is also Wang Hu. He has been working around Guo Cheng."
Lin Sancai definitely.
Gu Zhengchen nodded calmly, asked a few more questions, and asked Lin Sancai to step aside.
Officials assisted and the inquiry was quickly concluded.
Gu Zhengchen put away the recorded paper and looked at the miners: "There are a few words that I need to explain clearly. You all should remember them. First, in the past three months, you are not allowed to leave Jurong without reporting to the county government. Within the county, I may summon you at any time. Secondly, you can tell people what happened in the mines, but you must not exaggerate, make things out of thin air, or add fuel to the fire."
"Third, your suffering is due to the county government's negligence. The county government will provide compensation on an annual basis. If you are detained in the mine for one year, including less than one year, you will be given eight guan of money, and for two years, you will be given 16 guan. The increase will be in sequence, except for your grandson. Except for the two of you, everyone else can go to the household to collect money and leave the county office, your family members have arrived."
When everyone heard this, they were very grateful and kowtowed repeatedly.
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand and asked people to disperse. He looked at the confused Sun Erkou and said to Yang Liang beside him: "Take Sun Erkou to find Sun Niang, and let the execution room investigate the case of Sun Erkou's disappearance."
Yang Liang agreed and led Sun Erkou towards Dian Shi's house.
Sun Er was confused and anxiously asked Yang Liang several times, but Yang Liang said nothing. When he went outside Dianshi's house, he knocked on the door and shouted: "Mother Sun, open the door!"
Sun Niang heard the sound, walked out of the room, opened the door, a smile just rose on her face, and wanted to ask Yang Liang what his instructions were, when she turned her head and saw Sun Erkou, she was stunned.
"mother!"
Sun Erkou looked at his familiar mother, tears welled up in his eyes, he knelt down, kowtowed and shouted: "My child is unfilial!"
"The second family is really the second family member of my family."
Sun Niang stepped over the threshold, supported Sun Er's mouth, looked at the familiar face, and touched the calloused hands, feeling heartbroken.
Yang Liang turned around.
We can't see each other for a long time, let alone meet again after separation in life and death.
