It is by no means a false statement that the first level of officialdom kills people.
Gu Zhengchen is the prefect, and he is the largest official in Quanzhou Prefecture. Although he is not a small official and has great power, he is still very powerless when facing the powerful prefect.
Wu Kang, Qin Xin, Tang Xian and others watched Yang Baili being beaten to pieces, and couldn't help but be afraid of Gu Zhengchen.
This guy won't show any mercy when he takes action, he will really die!
Gu Zhengchen did not want to cause trouble. Xiao Cheng and Zhang Pei also knew that they would kill Tongfang as soon as he took office. Gu Zhengchen was not in a good position to deal with the court. Except for the first ten sticks that were used hard, the subsequent seventy sticks were all used. The beating was done with reduced force, that is, only the skin and flesh were hit without damaging the bones.
Despite this, Yang Baiju was still knocked unconscious and died. Maybe he was too weak to bear it.
Other officials and servants are counted as one.
This means that Xiao Cheng and Zhang Pei were born in the military, and they were very strong. If they were ordinary people, they probably wouldn't be able to beat a few people, and they would be exhausted.
But even so, Xiao Cheng and Zhang Pei were so exhausted that they were sweating profusely and only beat thirty people. Just when the remaining people were thankful that they wouldn't suffer much from being beaten, Gu Zhengchen asked Xiao Cheng and Zhang Pei to rest for half an hour, and then continued the beating...
After the fifty-eight people were beaten until they were crying and howling, it was almost dawn. Gu Zhengchen looked at the frightened officials and servants and said coldly: "I beat them because they violated the rules." We have violated His Majesty's will and violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty. As long as you don't violate the laws, this ban will not fall on you."
"It's getting daybreak. There is no need to light the knot in the government office today. Everything else is as usual. You heard clearly, I will only give you three days. Within three days, if you are at fault, explain the situation. I will forgive those who deserve forgiveness. If you are greedy, you will be forgiven. If you hand over the embezzled property, confess the facts, and name your accomplices, I can give you a lighter sentence."
"If three days pass and there is still no one to speak, I will go to court for questioning. If one of them is found, he should be punished with a rod, exiled, decapitated, and skinned! Don't do it! If I am lucky, I can beat fifty-eight people in one day, and I can also pick off fifty-eight heads in one day!"
Leng Sensen's words made every official and handyman present feel deep fear.
Gu Zhengchen didn't care about these people anymore. He got up and went back to the magistrate's house. He stayed up all night and wanted to sleep.
Yang Baiju woke up, his eyes full of hatred, looking at Wu Kang, Tang Xian and others, and said in a low voice: "The knife has been placed on the neck, if we don't take action, we will all die!"
Wu Kang sighed and whispered: "Don't worry, we will use every means to get him out of here."
Tang Xian, Qin Xin and others also understood that with Gu Zhengchen's attitude, it was impossible to cooperate with him. Since they could not win over him, they could only drive him away.
The beaten officials and servants were carried out of the government office. Although the sky was not yet bright, there were already vendors hawking on the street. Early shops, blacksmith shops, and small stalls were all open. Many people heard the officials' wails and saw them unable to walk.
The news that the prefect had beaten dozens of officials quickly spread throughout Jinjiang City and became a big event that was widely heard in the streets.
For the arrival of the new prefect, many people were looking forward to it at first, expecting that the new prefect could redress the grievances of the people and make decisions for the people. However, after the new prefect came, he remained motionless, did not even issue an announcement, and did not care about anything at all. As time passed, the people gave up.
Officials are all evil and no one is a good person.
This is the understanding of the people of Jinjiang City.
But on this day, this understanding changed.
Being able to beat dozens of officials at one go, even beating a man like General Judge Yang Baiju until his skin was bruised and almost to death, this shows that the new prefect is unusual.
Prison cell.
The cell leader Lu Ming was walking around restlessly, while the jailers Zhang Fei and Huang Ninghai on the side had panic expressions on their faces.
Huang Ninghai grabbed his beard, pulled hard, and pulled out two beards. Regardless of the pain, he walked to Lu Ming and whispered: "Boss Lu, we are just following you. You should give us a word."
Lu Ming glared at Huang Ninghai, looked at the dark face in front of him, gritted his teeth and said, "What can I say to you? You all have a share in making money. If something happens to me, you won't be able to live!"
Huang Ninghai said with a sad face: "No one wants to die, but this new prefect is too ruthless and cruel in his methods. You have also seen that Yang Tongxuan is such a good person, and his whole ass is going to be beaten to pieces. Within three months, He may not even be able to get out of bed! This is just because he doesn't live in the government office. If the prefect catches him for other reasons, then his head will not be seriously lost."
Lu Ming looked ferocious: "He wants us to die, isn't he afraid that he will die first? Even if the sky falls, a tall person will hold it up! It's useless for us to worry!"
Huang Ninghai looked at Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei was unshaven, but he was also a little clever. He said: "Boss Lu, it is true that a tall person will hold up the sky when it falls. But they may not be able to hold up the falling clouds if they hold up the sky." .What if this cloud crushes us to death first, wouldn’t it mean that the whole family is doomed?”
Lu Ming looked at Zhang Fei coldly: "What do you mean?"
Seeing that there was no one else around, Zhang Fei simply said directly: "If Gu Zhifu said to hit someone, he will be beaten. If he wants to kill someone, I'm afraid he only needs to report to the court. In less than three months, there will be people here. You yesterday I also heard it in the hall that night. The prefect named the ceremonial room and the household room. If he wants to find flaws in the punishment room and prison room, can we really hide the flaws?"
Lu Ming snorted: "So what if we can't hide it, it doesn't take three months, one month is enough for the people above to drive him away. Even if we are thrown into the prison cell, Tang Tongpan will definitely protect us."
Huang Ninghai stamped his foot: "Haven't you heard that in Hui'an, in order to save his son, Tang Tongpian branded a group of servants as pirates and beheaded them! How can we compare to his servants?"
Lu Ming frowned.
Indeed, for big men, they only care about their own safety, and they can sacrifice others to protect themselves.
Which part of the government has the most problems?
One is a household room and the other is a prison room.
Gu Zhengchen can find out the flaws in the household room, and he can also find out the flaws in the prison cell. At that time, the people in the prison cell will be out of luck.
Seeing that Lu Ming was still hesitating, Zhang Fei reminded: "The superiors have ordered us to do things, but they have never given instructions personally. They have only passed the message through other people. In other words, if something happens to us, the superiors may not be willing to protect us. At the moment, the prefect only gives Three days, after these three days, we may have no chance of survival!"
Lu Ming stared at Zhang Fei and grabbed Zhang Fei's shirt angrily: "What are you talking about? Tang Tongpan has been very kind to us. You have also benefited a lot over the years! Now you are just a young boy. So you were so frightened that you turned to him?"
Zhang Fei looked at the fierce Lu Ming and explained: "I just want to leave a way out. As you know, my son is only three years old this year and my wife has just become pregnant again. I can't let anything happen to me. Once something happens, they will do it completely." No one to rely on and no way to survive!"
Lu Ming pushed Zhang Fei away and scolded: "Think clearly, if you join the new magistrate, you and your whole family will be dead! No one can escape unscathed, don't let your imagination run wild. Either we all work together to move this Buddha , or we all go to hell hand in hand! I pretend I haven’t heard what you said today. If anyone dares to mention it again, don’t blame me, Lu Ming, for not treating you as brothers!”...??m
Zhang Fei and Huang Ninghai looked at each other and shut their mouths obediently.
Huang Ke stood in the distance, watching Huang Ninghai and Zhang Fei walk out of the room with their heads downcast. He picked up the stick and continued to patrol the prison cell. I just took a rest for a day, and only one night later, something so shocking happened in the government office.
Magistrate Gu's courage is really beyond words. He had just come to Quanzhou Prefecture to take office, and he had seen blood directly. Such a method was horrifying.
Although many officials will light three fires when they first take office, the fires are burned for the people to see. After the work is done, they have to put out the fires and go home to sleep. Not many of them directly burn the fires on the officials.
Magistrate Gu's methods are indeed ruthless, but this move is really unwise.
If the foundation is unstable, it is easy to get angry.
Forget it, some things should be hidden. It is estimated that the prefect named Gu will be leaving in a few days.
The magistrate's house.
Li Chengyi finally waited until Gu Zhengchen woke up and said quickly: "After all, the public was outraged. There were already twenty officials who refused to work for various reasons. In addition to those who were beaten and kicked out of the county government, the whole The government office has reduced its staff by more than 50%. Although this action is very satisfying, it has also brought you great trouble."
"What trouble?"
Gu Zhengchen yawned and disagreed.
Li Chengyi became anxious: "If the government officials and servants are gone, then who will handle government affairs? If there is no one to handle government affairs, won't the government office be paralyzed? You can't handle so many things alone, right?"
Gu Zhengchen chuckled and stretched his muscles: "To be honest, if the Quanzhou government office is rotten and the roots are broken, then it might not be a good thing if all these people leave."
Li Chengyi looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise. Everyone was gone, who would do the work?
Gu Zhengchen saw that it was still early and there was still an hour before dusk. He turned sideways and said to Li Chengyi: "Now that the Quanzhou government office is paralyzed, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it is better to be still than to move. Toss less and sleep more." Maybe people’s lives will be easier. You have to know that it’s almost October.”
Li Chengyi understood what Gu Zhengchen meant.
Nowadays, there are many corrupt officials in government offices. So where do these corrupt officials get their money from?
In the hands of common people, in the hands of merchants, in the hands of big families.
If all these people leave the government, it will be impossible for them to use the name of the government to collect money and make money.
What the people fear is the government and the people wearing official uniforms.
Without your official status, who will give you money and food? The most important thing is that it is almost time to collect the autumn tax.
