A series of questions made Wu Er tremble.
how to explain?
Can't explain it!
Gu Zhengchen knew very well that not to mention county and government offices, even provincial offices were not worthy of being appointed unless there were special circumstances.
Mounted horses belong to the order of war horses. The imperial court is so short of war horses. After the Northern Expedition and the war, the front lines are already walking on two legs. The number of war horses in the inland guards is so pitiful that it makes people want to cry. Where? And go to the government and county government?
When a horse appears, regardless of whether the seller is Uzang, Hami or Turpan, there is no ambiguity when it comes to buying it. One hundred kilograms of tea leaves, give it, one hundred and twenty kilograms of tea leaves is fine, as long as it is a good horse.
In this context, a horse suddenly appeared in the government office. Where did it come from?
On paper!
Wu Er couldn't explain clearly and said vaguely: "I bought the horse from a businessman and gave it to Zhao Sanqi to take care of..."
Gu Zhengchen then ordered someone to take out the household account books and government office account books, stared at Wu Er and asked, "I have seen these account books. You said you bought them from merchants. Who bought them? From whom did you buy them?" Why is there no record here of how much grain is in the treasury? Or is it that someone paid for the horses themselves and did not go to the government account?"
Wu Er's face was pale. At that time, he only wanted to cheat a sum of money. Who would have thought of properly handling multiple accounts together.
Gu Zhengchen asked again: "Mounting horses is so precious that I don't need to remind you. The barracks were actually taken care of by Zhao Sanqi, who had just been a groom for two months and had little experience. Du Shen, who was experienced and had raised horses all year round, was left alone. , is this too ridiculous? Pass it to Du Shen!"
Du Shen is an old man who has been working as a groom in the government office for five years. He knows how many horses there are, what kind of horses they are, what kind of food they eat, and even how to treat any diseases.
"During the fifth year of Hongwu's reign, could the government government purchase horses?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Du Shen didn't hesitate and replied directly: "The government has never purchased a horse."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Wu Er: "What else do you have to say?"
Wu Er trembled all over, lowered his head and confessed: "Yes, I remembered it wrong."
Gu Zhengchen sneered: "Wu Er, misremembering can't eliminate your guilt! You can choose to take it seriously, or you can choose to be stubborn to the end. I can find more evidence to convict you!"
Wu Er was at his wits end. There were too many witnesses. Seeing that he could not conceal it, Wu Er had no choice but to confess: "Yes, it was the official Wang Xinqian who instigated me to poison the old horse and get Zhao Sanqi's property." , after the boy obeyed the order, the official gave me twenty coins."
Wang Xinqian almost fainted. Your sister, Wu Er, gave you the money to keep your mouth shut. How dare you betray me?
Gu Zhengchen looked at Wang Xinqian: "Is he maliciously setting up a trap, or is he stating the facts?"
Wang Xinqian said eagerly: "This is a malicious frame-up. As a promotion official, how could I be greedy for such a small profit? I ask Magistrate Gu to take a closer look!"
Gu Zhengchen chuckled: "Two hundred guan, after dividing 20 guan, there is still 180 guan left. The salary of being a magistrate for one year is not worth this amount. In the eyes of Wang Tuiguan, these Money is just a small profit, don’t you know what a big profit is?”
Wang Xinqian was sweating on his forehead: "I never ordered Wu Er to poison his horse, and I never took a penny from him. It seems that Wu Er embezzled it for himself. In order to reduce the punishment, he deliberately set up a trap for me!"
Wu Er suddenly became anxious: "How could Wang Tuiguan say this? If you hadn't promised me benefits and given me poison, how would I have done it?"
Wang Xinqian snorted coldly: "What evidence do you have?"
Wu Er looked anxiously at Gu Zhengchen and then at the cheating Wang Xinqian, unable to say anything for a moment.
Evidence, this was done secretly, how could there be any evidence left?
Gu Zhengchen saw that Wang Xinqian thought he had no flaws, so he was not polite: "It still needs to be investigated carefully to see if there is any evidence. According to the official documents of the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Tuiguan was born in a poor family and was a member of the Huguang Juren. It seems that there has been no other account except salary in recent years. As long as Check if you have the 180 coins at home, and you will know everything."
Wu Kang looked at Gu Zhengchen. Damn, how long has it been? The one hundred and eighty yuan he got has been squandered long ago. You can't find it even if you want to find it. However, with Wang Xinqian's official position, An official who is in charge of pushing for prison litigation is bound to have oil and water.
One hundred and eighty strings cannot be found, but it is quite possible to find one thousand eight hundred strings.
"Zhang Pei, lead the government officials to search Wang Tuiguan's house. This is just to prove Wang Tuiguan's innocence. Don't hurt people or smash things."
Gu Zhengchen arranged.
Zhang Pei immediately ordered six government servants.
Wang Xinqian sat paralyzed on the ground, as if mourning his heir.
There is a lot of embezzled money, and it is all hidden in the house. If it needs to be searched, it is not possible to search it accurately. At that time, it will not only be a matter of poisoning horses, but also all bad things will be exposed.
"I, I plead guilty!"
Wang Xinqian saw that the Yamen servant was about to leave, so he immediately admitted it.
As long as the government officials don't search his house now, he can let his family transfer their property. When Gu Zhengchen loses power, it won't be too late to overturn the case and make a comeback.
Gu Zhengchen did not follow Wang Xinqian's idea, but took over the words naturally: "Very good, since you have confessed, you should find the one hundred and eighty sticks as evidence!"
When Zhang Pei heard this, he immediately laughed and led people away in a hurry.
Wang Xinqian was completely panicked and quickly looked to Qin Xin and Wu Kang for help.
The two fellow magistrates didn't know what to do at this time. What the magistrate said made sense. Since you were greedy, it was reasonable to find out the money you were greedy for. It was stolen goods. He was right, and we couldn't say anything.
Within half an hour, Zhang Pei came back with his servants and brought eight boxes.
When the box was opened, it was either silver or copper coins, as well as some South Sea pearls, agate, land deeds, etc.
Zhang Peidao: "When I returned to the prefecture, I didn't know which box the 180 coins were in, so we simply moved them all back."
Wang Xinqian glanced at Zhang Pei bewilderedly, "Sir, are you sure you are looking for 180 pieces of money and not confiscating my house?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at the boxes of things with sadness in his eyes.
Later, there was a saying in "The Scholars": "A clean magistrate is worth one hundred thousand snowflakes of silver." This is still an honest magistrate, and this is just one hundred thousand snowflakes of silver for the magistrate alone!
What about the people down there?
Will their money really be less than that of the chief?
Where did they come from with so much money?
People!
These people eat human flesh and drink human blood!
Zhao Sanqi only raised horses to do corvee labor, but as a result, more than 200 acres of land were lost, and a wealthy family became a poor man! And all the money of Zhao Sanqi's family has gone into the hands of these corrupt officials!
How many Zhao Sanqi are there in this Quanzhou Prefecture to make one general judge and one official official extremely rich!
Gu Zhengchen's face was cold and stern, and he said in a deep voice: "Wang Tuiguan, your crime is probably not a matter of a horse. I am very curious, how many methods did you use to get so many benefits from the people? For this money, you have destroyed the homes of so many people in Quanzhou Prefecture! You have done a lot of corruption and bending the law, right?"
Wang Xinqian was crying and speechless.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Wu Kang and Qin Xin: "The evidence of Wang Xinqian's corruption is conclusive. Now I will take off his official hat and throw him into a dungeon to await trial. After the case is concluded, he will report it to the court and let the court decide whether to skin him or imprison him. How about it?"
Wu Kang and Qin Xin did not dare to object.
With the clear evidence in front of him, it is impossible to say that he is not corrupt. Since there has been corruption, and the amount is huge, it is not a matter of discussing the death penalty, but a matter of how to die...
Emperor Lao Zhu of the Ming Dynasty was a farmer. What he hated most was corrupt officials. According to the emperor's temperament, Wang Xinqian's skin could probably live in straw for a while.
Wang Xinqian was taken away by the government officials.
Gu Zhengchen wrote the order and looked at Wu Er: "Wang Xinqian has committed numerous crimes and cannot be conclusively convicted at the moment, but your crime is very clear! According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, those who steal and kill horses and cattle will be punished with a hundred rods and three years' imprisonment. ! Because of your frank confession at the end, and because you are not the mastermind, I now sentence you to eighty sticks and hand over all the stolen money!"
Wu Kang and Qin Xin gritted their teeth after hearing this.
What do you want to confess frankly, the staff is one hundred, and the authority of the three-year apprenticeship is in the province, which is handled at the political participation level. You have deliberately lowered it to eighty staff, which is within the authority of your prefect.
In order to beat someone up, you went so far as to commute your sentence?
Wu Er was very sad, it seemed that this board could not escape after all.
The order is signed.
When the yamen servants came out, they were beaten with sticks.
Officials are watching, and so are the people. This is truly a trial now, a judgment now, and now execution.
Lin Fu watched Wu Er faint from the pain, poured a basin of water on him to wake him up, and continued to beat him until Wu Er was almost beaten to death. Only then did the government officials stop.
This prefect is serious about dealing with corrupt officials and those who commit adultery!
He is not hypocritical, nor is he putting on a show for the people to see, but he is truly making plans and truly upholding justice for democracy!
When Zhao Sanqi saw that the horse matter was settled, he immediately shouted: "The common people also sued Cao Rui, the magistrate of Nan'an County. Even though my family had almost no acres of land, they still issued a free quota of 230 acres and levied taxes." Two taxes!”
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly: "The two taxes are related to the life and death of the people, how can we charge more? I now order the clerk to write a document and ask Nan'an Cao County Magistrate to bring the two tax account books and the stubs to the government office for explanation. If what he did is serious, You should be held accountable!"
The scribe Wang Meng agreed and wrote down the documents in the hall.
Gu Zhengchen sent it with the Yamen servant.
Zhao Sanqi saw what was going on and immediately shouted: "Gu Qingtian is here, the people of Quanzhou Prefecture have a way to survive!"
Xiao Cheng's face suddenly twitched, Zhang Pei lowered his head, and even Li Chengyi couldn't help but turn sideways.
Without it, this sentence is familiar. Gu Zhengchen made it up himself.
Zhao Sanqi is this person.
But this trust was indeed filled with grievances, and the whole family was torn apart by the government officials. If Gu Zhengchen had not come here, it is estimated that Zhao Sanqi and his family would have either become beggars, or participated in the rebellion and been beheaded...??m
Gu Qingtian!
The people who listened remembered the name and saw with their own eyes Gu Qingtian's treatment of corrupt officials. Once there is the first person who takes the lead and clears the grievances, there will be the second follower and the third...
