Huang Ke, Qian Bang and others looked at Zhao Sanqi, all worried.
Now that the government office is almost empty, Gu Zhengchen is already a polished prefect and is in a weak position. Now you, Zhao Sanqi, stand up and complain. If Gu Zhengchen takes a sip of tea and leaves Quanzhou Prefecture tomorrow, have you thought about the consequences?
If you offend a local snake, you dare not say that people will die, but the destruction of your family is almost certain.
Zhao Sanqi looked deeply at Gu Zhengchen. He really had no choice. Those people had forced him to a desperate situation. If he didn't open his mouth, his whole family would die!
Rather than die in their hands, it is better to seek a chance of survival, even if it is slim.
Gu Zhengchen was somewhat surprised by the sudden accusation. He looked at Zhang Pei and ordered: "Hel him up and talk."
Zhao Sanqi didn't dare to bother and stood up quickly.
Gu Zhengchen said sternly: "Zhao Sanqi, tell me your grievances completely. Don't add any fuel or jealousy."
Zhao Sanqi raised his hand and swore: "If anything I say is untrue, I will let Mazu stop protecting my family!"
Gu Zhengchen stared.
For people in Fujian who believe in Mazu, this sentence is more serious than five thunderbolts from the sky. Mazu is their sea god, god and belief.
Zhao Sanqi began to tell his tragic experience: "Gu Zhifu, I was originally a commoner in Shuitou Village, Nan'an County, and I was considered a wealthy family. In the spring of the fifth year of Hongwu, the government summoned me to be a horseman in the name of doing corvee work. I thought at first that Being a groom is no big deal, but who would have imagined that raising a horse would almost cost the family..."
Gu Zhengchen listened carefully, while Li Chengyi stared at Zhao Sanqi.
After Zhao Sanqi entered the government office and started raising horses, he was fine for the first two months, but suddenly one day, the good horse died. The government office held him responsible and asked Zhao Sanqi to pay compensation.
Horses are much more expensive than oxen. Cows cost eight or ten guan at most, but most horses cost more than 80 guan. Especially good horses require more than two hundred strings.
This means that good horses are scarce in the Ming Dynasty. Lao Zhu is worried to death just to get some horses. It is strange that the price can drop.
Zhao Sanqi felt aggrieved: "The horses I raised were obviously inferior, inferior, and weak horses. They could only pull carriages on a short route, but they didn't run a long way. But the government just asked me to buy a horse to repay it. Although my family was well off at the time. , but I couldn’t come up with two hundred guan at the moment, but the government officials were pressuring me, saying that I didn’t take good care of the horses and poisoned them maliciously. If I didn’t pay compensation quickly and delayed the yamen master’s trip, I would be punished..."
"In desperation, I had to sell some land and only then could I get 200 guan of money. At that time, I thought that after three years of hard work, I would be able to make a comeback. Unexpectedly, the government office did not give me horse feed and left me with the burden. Horse feed. Magistrate Gu, the cost of raising a horse is more than raising three or five children, and there is only one shop selling horse feed in Jinjiang City, and the price is high..."
Gu Zhengchen frowned slightly: "Who is the owner behind this shop?"
Zhao Sanqi shook his head: "I'm just a horseman, how do I know the background of this man with great eyes and hands, but I can be sure that what is sold in the shop is the government's horse materials, and they have not dealt with the government seals on the boxes. It's just that I heard from people that Yang Tongpan is behind the store, but as to whether it is true or not, I don’t dare to talk nonsense.”
Gu Zhengchen thought of Yang Baiju who had been beaten. This guy probably needed a lot of money for his mansion and compound, and there would probably be many ways to make money.
Zhao Sanqi seemed to be talking about something sad, and couldn't help but shed tears: "If you get off the horse and die, you have to pay for the horse, and you don't give the horse feed and buy it at a high price. These villains admit it! In the past two years, the family has been ruined." The family's 230 acres of land were sold, and only two acres of thin farmland were sold, and they still owed twenty guans on credit! In this way, the government officials were not going to let it go. In July this year, the Nan'an County government collected the summer tax. , my family was given a land parcel of 230 acres, and we were asked to pay nearly 7 shi of grain!"
"We can't get so much food even if we sell iron. We appealed to the government, but they only followed the instructions. The taxes were not paid this summer, and all the things in the house were moved away by the government officials. I received a letter from my family, and my father was pushed by the government officials. I broke my leg. The results of the summer tax haven't been decided yet, and in more than a month, the autumn tax will come again. By then, the whole family may be forced to death!"
Tears burst into tears.
Gu Zhengchen's face was very ugly. These people wanted to swallow him and his bones together!
Zhao Sanqi knelt down again, kowtowed and shouted: "Prefect Gu, please make the decision for the villain and save the lives of my family of eight!"
Gu Zhengchen heard the dull voice, stood up and walked out, stretched out his hand to lift up Zhao Sanqi, and said seriously: "It is a matter of human life. I cannot sit idly by and do nothing. Let's do this. I will pay you twenty guan from the treasury." Qian, please go back and take care of your immediate needs first. After you stabilize your situation, you can go back to the government office to serve as a servant. How about that?"
Zhao Sanqi looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise and was so moved that he could no longer speak.
Wei Jingzhi came out and reminded: "The money and food in the government treasury cannot be tampered with without permission. Every payment needs a name. If the records are not created properly and the money and food are spent randomly, it is likely to bring trouble to the government official."
"Trouble? Haha, I have a lot of troubles. I don't care about this. The investigation of the case will not happen overnight, but his family may be in danger. We can't delay it. Let's do it this way. Zhang Pei, go and pay the money."
Gu Zhengchen didn't care about this trouble.
Zhao Sanqi cried endlessly.
I have never seen such a good government government give me money. Wow, even in my wildest dreams, I couldn’t imagine that I could receive money from the government’s warehouse. I’m thankful to be able to pay six buckets of rice every month on time. .
Huang Ke was touched by this scene.
Regardless of how Gu Zhifu fought with Tang Tongpian and others at this time, Gu Zhifu was far better than Tang Tongpian in terms of his attitude and behavior towards the miserable people.
However, good people may not be rewarded well, and good officials may not last long.
After Zhao Sanqi left, there were only four government officials and servants in total. Counting the master and two attendants beside Magistrate Gu, there were only seven people in total.
A huge magistrate's office cannot function with only seven people.
Huang Ke didn't know what Gu Zhengchen would do next, but he knew very well that the government office could no longer operate normally. If he didn't compromise with other officials, the prefect office could be said to be closed.
But will he compromise?
Huang Ke always felt that Gu Zhengchen, who seemed to be weak, contained powerful power in his body. His calm confidence and calm An Ran were not just fake composure.
Qian Bang, Wei Jingzhi and Lin Wei looked at Gu Zhengchen, each with their own thoughts.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Huang Ke, Wei Jingzhi and others, and said with a smile: "Since you are staying, then obey the orders. Qian Bang will assist Wei Jingzhi in taking care of the almshouse, and Lin Wei will assist Huang Ke in taking care of the prison cell to ensure that there is no Let’s rest after this, and we’ll start tomorrow – we’ll be busy.”
Huang Ke, Wei Jingzhi and others didn't know what else they could do in this empty government office, but seeing Gu Zhengchen's serious expression, they didn't dare to ask, so they followed the order and left.
Non-violence, non-resistance, non-cooperation.
Gu Zhengchen sneered. He had experienced this in the Jurong County Government Office, so it was not a big deal.
Thinking about Hai Rui and Xu Jie later, they also faced similar problems.
Hai Rui united his knowledge and action and knew that he was the county magistrate. He had done all the affairs of Quanzhi County by himself, leaving others dumbfounded and had no choice but to come back to work.
Xu Jie united his knowledge and action in Yanping, Fujian, not far from Quanzhou Prefecture. He defeated interests with interests.
Everyone will encounter difficulties. It depends on whether you have the firm will and extraordinary wisdom to solve the difficulties.
Gu Zhengchen has not studied Lao Wang's philosophy of mind, but he has learned from Lao Ma and the teacher to analyze specific problems, primary contradictions and secondary contradictions, and primary enemies and secondary enemies.
That night.
Zhang Pei was wrapped in a black coat and sat on the roof of the prefect's house. He had a bow in his hand and a pot of arrows on his back, looking around him warily.
Someone passed by behind the government office, and Zhang Pei picked up his bow warily.
The person left and there was no movement.
Zhang Pei waited for a while and relaxed again after seeing nothing unusual.
Gu Zhengchen was drafting a notice and thinking about the wording. He felt that it was too formal and would be awkward for the people to listen to, so he simply borrowed Lao Zhu's writing style and wrote it in vernacular.
After writing more than thirty notices in a row, Gu Zhengchen rubbed his sore wrists, yawned, and lay down with his clothes on.
It was late at night, and the room was quiet except for the faint sound of Gu Zhengchen's breathing.
rustle.
A black shovel-headed snake with white spots emerged from the mouse hole, swimming in zigzags, approaching the bed.
The head of the rice shovel stopped outside the bed, as if listening to the movement, and seemed to be sensing the breath. Soon after, he climbed up along the edge of the bed, looked at the sleeping prey, quickly straightened his body, flattened his neck and expanded, and spit out Nobuko.
call out!
The head of the rice shovel bit down hard!
Bang bang!
The head of the rice shovel shook his head a little, and seemed a little dazed. He didn't know why he was biting someone, and why he was dizzy. As soon as he regained consciousness, he felt that someone had grabbed his tail, and he couldn't help but turn around to bite him.
Bang bang!
Xiao Cheng grabbed the snake's tail, slammed it twice, then grabbed the underside of the tongue, exerted force with his fingers, and spat out the head of the rice shovel to stir the body, but found that he was grabbed by a strong force. , unable to move.
A pair of snake eyes faced a pair of human eyes, and finally there was no movement.
Seeing that Gu Zhengchen didn't wake up, Xiao Cheng simply took out the dagger from his waist, disposed of the snake and threw it into the wine jar. Xiao Cheng was not going to let go of something that could clear the meridians, dispel wind and dampness, and help men become more virile.
It's a pity that one is too little. Is it for Gu Zhengchen to drink or for himself? Forget it, Zhang Pei didn't even find such a big loophole. If it weren't for him, Gu Zhengchen, the prefect of Quanzhou and Quanzhou County Man, he really went under the Nine Springs.
Its daybreak.
Gu Zhengchen stood up, smelled the smell of blood in the room, and looked at Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng pointed to the wine jar: "Last night there was a rice shovel looking for you. I saw you were sleeping deeply, so I sent him away without letting him wake you up."
Gu Zhengchen's expression changed slightly.
Shovelhead, this is a cobra!
After taking a bite, I guess I can go have a drink with Chang Yuchun.
Damn, the people in this place are too presumptuous! You haven't killed them yet, but you want to kill yourself?
OK.
Now that you have taken action, don't blame me for being ruthless!
