Guo Fu also pretended to be confused: "Why did you give the order? Is it wrong for me to eliminate harm for the people?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Guo Fu coldly, then turned to the government officials on both sides. He raised his hand and pulled out a sign: "Guo Fu, you said you would eliminate harm for the people, then why did you not do anything for eight years when Guo Liu was around? Do you do it when I am about to arrest Guo Liu and when the government officials rush to Hezhuang?"
"I've been looking for opportunities, and today the opportunity has arrived, isn't it?"
Aaron Kwok scratched his neck.
Gu Zhengchen shook his head slightly: "No."
Guo Fu stared.
Gu Zhengchen knocked on the table with his order: "You are Guo Liu's housekeeper, not an ordinary servant. If you really want to kill him, do something with the food, light a fire in the middle of the night, and push it with Guo Liu when he climbs the mountain. There are countless opportunities, no matter where you are, you would not choose to take a nap in the backyard, the time and place are easily exposed.”
"Besides, if you are serious about killing harm for the people, you only need to kill Guo Liu and his son. Why did you kill his wife and concubines? If you are serious about killing harm for the people, why did you only let Guo Liu's two grandsons go? ?It’s useless to quibble in front of this official.”
The order was thrown out, and the officer raised the water and fire stick.
Guo Fu was beaten so badly that he screamed repeatedly, but when asked about the person behind the scenes, he refused to speak.
Gu Zhengchen saw that if the beating continued, he would probably die first, so he stopped the officer and temporarily detained him. Afterwards, he interrogated Guo Ning, Guo Jie, Guo Liang and others. After various physical evidence, witness evidence, and the support of their family members, Gu Zhengchen Next, several people explained the resale of Rending and the Wuchengshan Mine.
Due to the large number of people and the complexity of the case, Gu Zhengchen did not complete the interrogation until the second watch of the day, and then completed the recruitment and files. After being detained, they were gathered on the table.
Gu Zhengchen did not pronounce the sentence in court. These matters were widely involved and the cases were large. It was not his turn to pronounce their crimes. At most, he could write down his own sentencing suggestions in the document. As for whether Lao Zhu Cai would adopt it or not, that would still depend on Lao Zhu Cai. Zhu's temper.
Sitting in the second hall, Gu Zhengchen held the Taiping Tongbao and kept turning it between his fingers. Several copper coins fell on the table, and he picked it up again and continued to turn it.
Zhang Pei walked in, looked at the worried Gu Zhengchen, and asked: "The case has been investigated and everyone has confessed. Why is the master still looking so sad?"
Gu Zhengchen put the copper coin on the table, flicked his fingers, looked at the rotating copper coin and said, "The case has been investigated, who told you?"
Zhang Pei was a little puzzled: "These people have confessed, and the Yin and Yang files and the sale of human beings are all clear. Can the case be closed?"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head slightly: "Although many issues in the case are clear, there are still some doubts that have not been clarified. If these things are not clarified, the case cannot be easily closed."
Zhang Pei watched the copper coins fall and made a buzzing sound: "Yes, there must be a motive for Guo Fu's murder and silence, and there must be someone behind the scenes. But sir, according to the testimony of the Geshan people, Guo Liu is the mastermind. This should not be wrong. "
Gu Zhengchen flipped the coin again: "Guo Fu's killing revealed that there must be someone behind the scenes. Who is the person behind the scenes? This is just one of the five doubts."
"Five doubts?"
Zhang Pei was a little surprised.
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and said solemnly: "First of all, it is not a secret that we entered Wucheng Mountain. Guo Liu was at the mountain pass. He knew that there were Beijing troops accompanying him. In this case, Guo Baijin and others As thieves and lawless people, the most important thing to do is to abandon the mines and move them to the place. In other words, who gave them the courage to kill the Beijing army and the magistrate?"
"After Guo Baijin learned that Guo Liu was dead, he said that it was Guo Liu who gave him the order and admitted that Guo Liu was the mastermind. But why would Guo Liu rather make the matter bigger than get rid of us at all costs, just for the sake of one person? A small mine with just over 60 people? Doesn’t he know that once we die there, even if we are eaten by tigers, Wucheng Mountain will be raided by the army and his mine will still not be saved."
Zhang Pei thought about it carefully, and it seemed to be the same.
Not to mention Gu Zhengchen's special status, the ordinary county magistrate and the Beijing army were eaten by tigers in the mountains. Regardless of Zhu Yuanzhang's personality, he had to mobilize a large army to eliminate them. Even if it didn't work, he would send a group of elites to go deep into the mountains and forests to hunt and completely solve the problem.
No matter what the outcome is, the mines in Wucheng Mountain will inevitably be exposed. In this case, why take the initiative to attack Gu Zhengchen and the Beijing army?
This is indeed a doubtful point, but perhaps it was a decision made by Guo Liulao in a moment of confusion and anger.
Gu Zhengchen continued: "There are doubts about where the more than 300 people who disappeared have gone, and whether they were really trafficked. Since they are going to be sold, they can be transported directly from Wucheng Mountain to the Yangtze River and leave by boat. One day It can be done within a short period of time, and there is more than enough time, so why turn to the east, enter Kongqingshan for a short stay, and change a group of people to take away the miners?"
"And who are this group of people? Guo Liang, Guo Jie, and Geshan people didn't explain this clearly. Guo Baijin just said that they were handed over to different buyers. I am very curious as to which buyer will go deep into Coming from the mountains to pick up the goods, and traveling for dozens of miles, doesn’t it increase the risk of exposure and transfer? Directly on the Yangtze River, if you buy miners and ship them immediately, this is the choice of normal buyers, right? This is the second doubt point .”
Zhang Pei took a deep breath.
Gu Zhengchen stood up and walked out from behind the desk: "The third doubt is related to the Yin and Yang files, the two key people in transferring prisoners, Chen Zhong, the classics officer, and Zhou Hong, the prison chief. Chen Zhong was forced to hang himself, and Zhou Hong went there Where is he? Someone can let Chen Zhong die, and there is no need to leave Zhou Hong alive, right? This person is missing. Whether he was imprisoned, hid himself on his own initiative, or was killed, this also needs to be found out. "
"The fourth point is, at the end of the third year of Hongwu, why were miners suddenly transferred in large numbers? What happened behind this? And the occurrence of this incident is related to the whereabouts of more than 300 people. Whether it is Guo Liang, Guo Jie or Neither Geshanren nor Guo Baijin gave an explanation for this issue, and Guo Liu never told anyone about this incident, which means that very few people know about it."
"Why is it so secret? If it is just about selling miners, it seems that there is no need to keep it secret. Geshanren, Guo Liang, Guo Baijin and others are doing human trafficking themselves. They know that Guo Liu wants to resell the miners to What's the big deal for other people? For them, there is no need to keep this kind of thing secret. Keeping a secret about something that does not need to be kept secret only shows that this matter is not as simple as reselling the miners."
Zhang Pei looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise. He didn't expect that the case seemed to be closed and there were still so many questions that remained unanswered.
Gu Zhengchen paced and thought.
Gu Cheng walked in and said, "Master, Han Qiang, Wang Hu and others who went to Kong Qingshan to search are back."
Gu Zhengchen quickly asked them to come.
Han Qiang entered the second hall and saluted: "Your Majesty, Wang Hu led us to find the cave in Kongqing Mountain, but the building is empty and there are spider webs everywhere. I think no one has been here for a long time."
"What objects can be found?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Han Qiang arranged for the yamen to deliver the things he had obtained.
There were not many things, more than ten earthen jars, and three of them were broken; a stone as big as a fist, the tip of the stone was black, which should be blood stains; a rusty copper coin; two broken shoes of different sizes; a A torn turban; six old torches.
"there is none left?"
After Gu Zhengchen looked at it, he raised his head and asked.
Han Qiang shook his head: "I searched carefully and found no other objects and no bones. The cave seems to be just a temporary place and there are no traces of anyone staying there for a long time."
Gu Zhengchen crouched down and looked at the earthen jars. There was nothing unusual. They were either storing water or urine. There were no earthen jars for storing grains, which meant that after this group of people arrived, they would leave soon.
The stone was stained with blood and no bones were found, indicating that there had been a conflict in the cave, but no one died. Torn shoes and tattered headscarves provide no clues. The six torches were all taken from the stone walls of the cave, which shows that the cave is not small, and there are also a lot of people guarding the cave.
"This copper coin was also found in the cave?"
Gu Zhengchen picked up the copper coins and looked at them.
"Yes, this was found in the deepest part of the cave, under a small stone."
Han Qiang replied.
Gu Zhengchen stared: "Taiping Tongbao is another Song Dynasty coin. Could it be that the Wuchengshan Mine and Kongqingshan Cave existed in the Song Dynasty?"
Han Qiang looked at it and said: "This Song Dynasty coin is very rusty and looks like it has been around for a while."
Gu Zhengchen put away the copper coin and compared it with another copper coin in his hand. Both coins were corroded, but the weight was different.
"You guys go down and rest first."
Gu Zhengchen only left the copper coins and arranged for others to take away the other things.
Zhang Pei couldn't help but feel worried when he saw Gu Zhengchen sitting down and meditating again. He had never had a good rest, and if he continued to stay up, he would fall ill sooner or later.
Gu Zhengchen raised his head and looked at Zhang Pei: "Find the eight elders in the city, and also ask the people from the workshop to send over the map of Jurong's mineral deposits."
Zhang Pei hesitated and advised: "It's already the second watch. The elders are all asleep at this time. Do you want to wait until tomorrow?"
"We don't have so much time, go and send the message."
Gu Zhengchen arranged.
Zhang Pei had no choice but to invite someone.
Soon, Zhou Zhen from the workshop brought over the mineral distribution map. Gu Zhengchen put the copper coins on the table, spread out the mineral map, looked at it, and asked Zhou Zhen: "Jiuhua Mountain, Yanshan Ridge, Songlin Mountain, Kongqing Mountain, and Dazhuo Mountain, are there any people mining the lime mines in these places?"
Zhou Zhen took out a brochure, opened it, read it, and handed it to Gu Zhengchen: "My lord, the lime mines in these places are being mined by others, but the mining scale is very small, mostly owned by a few or a dozen households. Small kiln.”
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "Is there a lime mine somewhere that can accommodate hundreds of people mining secretly without being discovered?"
Zhou Zhen looked at the distribution map and looked confused: "This is unlikely. No one dares to enter Wucheng Mountain because of the serious tiger damage. I have never heard of how serious the tiger damage is in other mountains. If there are many people mining, Orion , Pharmacists should not be unaware."
"Tiger harm?"
Gu Zhengchen thought for a moment and his eyes lit up: "Check, see which lime mine in Jurong has caused panic, or heard or seen strange things. Immediately arrange for the yamen to visit the people around the foot of the mountain. Old people in the countryside! If those miners were not sold, they must be hiding somewhere in Jurong!"
