The shackles under his feet dragged and clanged against the floor.
After only one night, Bu Shou already looked much older. He even walked a little unsteadily, his eyes were dull, and his face looked miserable.
Bu Shou looked at Gu Zhengchen, his distracted eyes finally focused, and the corners of his mouth trembled. Before he could speak, the officer had already stepped forward and pushed him down to his knees.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Bu Shou and was stunned: "Bu Shou, the weapons and armor hidden in Jingming Villa are for rebellion and rebellion. What do you have to say?"
Bu Shou lowered his head: "I have nothing to say."
Gu Zhengchen ordered someone to hand over the recruitment notice: "If you have nothing to say, then let's recruit."
Bu Shou looked at the recruitment notice in front of him, raised his head and said to Gu Zhengchen, "Do you want to kill the entire Bu family for this crime?"
Gu Zhengchen stared at Bu Shou and shook his head: "You should first ask yourself why you hid the weapons secretly. If you don't explain clearly, I can only convict you of treason and hand it over to the court for disposal."
Bu Shou knew that this crime would kill his whole family. Although Bu Zhongsheng, Bu Suanzi and others had escaped, but the court wanted to arrest several people, where could they go? As long as you don't go to sea, you will be caught by the court sooner or later.
For the sake of his family, Bu Shou had no choice but to speak: "The reason why we hide weapons and armor privately is to disguise ourselves as a navy and avoid being investigated by the navy near the sea. Second, after going to sea, we need to use weapons to protect the goods and avoid being caught by ordinary seas." The bandits plundered them. These weapons and armor were not prepared for rebellion, but for trade southward."
Although the weapons and armor used to go to sea in violation of maritime restrictions to protect cargo and the weapons and armor used to deliberately rebel against the imperial court are the same, the charges are different and the applicable laws and regulations are also different.
Gu Zhengchen smiled slightly and raised the issue of weapons and armor first, in order to force Bu Shou to admit that he went to sea to do business. Once this was confirmed, he could follow the clues and deal with the people and affairs of the Shipping Department.
"You went to Nanyang to sell goods, and you were already making huge profits. Why did you take the risk and let the government provide you with goods in the form of folded silk?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Bu Shou smiled bitterly: "Why, naturally it is better to accumulate more wealth and let the people give us silk than to spend our own manpower to purchase and transport it. One piece of silk saves four or five yuan, and one hundred thousand silk is four to five thousand yuan." Save money! What you save is what you earn. Who wouldn’t be tempted by such a huge sum of wealth?”
Gu Zhengchen then asked: "The government office folds colored silk, how do your Bu family and the government office divide the profits?"
Bu Shou did not hesitate and said bluntly: "Sixty-four points. The government office only takes 60% of the profit from silk, and the Bu family takes 40%. As for other transactions, such as ceramics, tea, utensils, including the spices transported, The government office only took half of the profit, and most of it went to the Bu family, who used the wealth to win over officials and smoothen relationships."
Gu Zhengchen looked at the scribe, and when he saw the scribe stopped writing, he said, "Who are the officials who have been attracted by the Bu family?"
Bu Shou was shocked when he saw Gu Zhengchen's eyes were deep and cold, so he avoided his gaze: "Quanzhou Prefecture also knew Qin Xin and Wukang, general judges Tang Xian and Yang Baili, promoted official Wang Xinqian, governor Yang Zaoduan, and promoted the city's shipping department. Wei Hong, Jinjiang County Magistrate Wanchao, Chief Secretary Lu Min, Hui'an County Magistrate Shi Ruji, County Magistrate Feng Yuanli, Nan'an County Magistrate Cao Rui..."
Names were announced one by one.
Gu Zhengchen stood up and walked to the hall: "These officials who were attracted by the Bu family must have credentials. For example, Shi Ruji, he is good at keeping accounts. There are many details of gift giving recorded in the account book. I believe the Bu family can also keep accounts. , hold their handle to ensure that these people can cooperate with the Bu family at critical moments, right?"
Bu Shou hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "There is a secret room under the rockery in the Bu family's courtyard. There is a list of the officials who have been recruited, letters and gift lists."
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Qin Song, who immediately left with several government servants.
"Bu Shou, you mentioned so many names, why didn't you say Gao Shenzheng?"
Gu Zhengchen clicked it.
Bu Shou shook his head: "Prefect Gu, although Gao Shenzheng's son is related by marriage to my granddaughter, Gao Shenzheng is a noble man, has a clean heart, and is devoted to the people. He has never taken dirty money. The Bu family has never given anything to Gao Shenzheng. Over a copper plate."
Gu Zhengchen smiled heartily: "Gao Shenzheng didn't take a single coin from the Bu family, but he went to the government office three times for your Bu family!"
Bu Shou denied: "Gao Shenzhen's three visits to the government office were all because of you and had nothing to do with the Bu family."
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand: "Gao Shenzheng entered the government office for the first time. On the pretext of killing Yang Baiju and others with a stick, he took away the official's seal of prefect and asked Qin Xin to act as the agent for all affairs of the government office. Who did you meet later? Zhang Jiujing was I went to Bu's house and learned about your conversation. Gao Shenzheng went to the government office for the second time and wanted to arrest Gu in the name of rebellion. He even brought a Quanzhou guard sergeant with him. Unfortunately, he did not bring Zhou Yuan and Cai Ye. Otherwise it would have been successful.”
"After Gao Shenzheng left, the Bu family wanted to find out information about Zhou Yuan and Cai Ye several times. What was their purpose? Wasn't it just that they wanted to mobilize the Quanzhou Guard sergeants to embolden you and be your ballast to avoid capsizing? As for Gao This is the third time I have entered the government office. It was sent by me. You want to arrest me at the port, why don't I want to catch you all?"
"Bu Shou, Gao Hui's various actions are obviously aimed at me, but in fact they appear every time when the Bu family is in danger. If you say that he has no selfish motives and no intention to protect the Bu family, I don't believe it. A province Even if I want to deal with this official, I can go back to express my condolences to Marquis Jinghai first, and then turn back to capture me and send me to Jinling, but he was so anxious that he turned around and persuaded the Xinghua Guard sergeants to come. This method is not simple."
Bu Shou shook his head: "Gao Shenzheng has no interest in the Bu family. You can't even think of framing him!"
Gu Zhengchen saw that Bu Shou was refusing to let go, so he let it go for the time being, and then asked: "Wei Hong, who was promoted to the chief ship officer of Quanzhou City, was also recruited by you. What is he responsible for?"
Seeing that Gu Zhengchen did not ask Gao Hui about anything, Bu Shou relaxed a little: "Wei Hong manages all non-navy ships in Quanzhou Port, including the ships of foreign envoys. Wei Hong is responsible for providing the date of departure. , ships, names, cover... Without Wei Hong, the business cannot be done."
Gu Zhengchen said seriously: "Wei Hong is a very capable person. He can help you with things under Zhao Yihui's nose. But you also know that with Zhao Yihui here, you can't let go." , something will go wrong sooner or later. So, Zhao Yihui being involved in a murder case is the Bu family’s strategy to transfer Zhao Yihui away, right?"
Bu Shou nodded heavily: "Yes, Zhao Yihui knew that there was a problem in Quanzhou Port. He not only investigated Wei Hong, but also wanted to follow the clues and investigate Jingming Villa! This is not something that the Bu family can tolerate. Using wooing, lobbying, and threats After it is used up, it can only be transferred out in this way!"
Gu Zhengchen asked coldly: "Aren't you too cruel to exchange the death of Huang Hui, the official of the Shipping Department, for Zhao Yihui's departure?"
Bu Shou laughed and said: "You don't think that Huang Hui died unjustly, do you? No, although this person is not an official, he is very greedy. He has reached out to ask for benefits several times. He is also a gambler. He lost in private. How much! If you don’t continue to give him money, he actually threatened to tell Zhao Yihui what happened! His only use is to exchange his life for worry-free ocean trade. "
I see.
Gu Zhengchen realized that Huang Hui was an ignorant guy. He was taking advantage of the Bu family and wanted to rely on the Bu family and threaten the Bu family. In the eyes of the Bu family, Huang Hui was just a driver and a slave. As a result, this kid wanted to ride on the Bu family's head and dominate. Such a person would die sooner or later.
The dusty cases were uncovered one by one.
After the interrogation of Bu Shou, Gu Zhengchen interrogated Bu Xiu, Bu Yuanhai, Bu Huang and others to corroborate all the testimonies. After that, he brought Wei Hong to trial and ordered the officials to search Wei Hong's family property. Zhou Xiang was arrested and brought to justice.
When Bu Zhongsheng was sent to the government office and saw that Bu Shou had explained many things, Bu Zhongsheng finally collapsed.
This was an extremely long day of interrogation. It started in the morning and ended at sunset. It continued until Duan Shimin sent the divination operator, and the interrogation finally came to an end.
Prison cell.
Bu Shou stood in the prison cell and saw Bu Zhongsheng staggering past through the window. He shouted in pain: "My son's life is miserable!"
There was sadness in Bu Zhongsheng's eyes, and he said to Bu Shou: "Father, none of us ran out, and Bu Suanzi was also captured. After many years of business, it all came to nothing."
Bu Shou Lao burst into tears: "I shouldn't have regretted it in the first place."
If they stick to the villa's foundation and the old house, although the Bu family won't be able to become rich and powerful, and they won't be able to control the wind and rain, at least their children and grandchildren will all have a stable life.
But now, the scenery has faded into smoke in less than eight years.
As the night grew dark, torches were lit and hung outside the prison cell, illuminating the corridor.
Huang Ke opened the cell and stood guard outside the door.
Gu Zhengchen walked in and looked at Gao Hui, who was sitting cross-legged and undisturbed, and smiled calmly: "Gao Shenzheng can keep his composure. It seems very clear that I can't find anything to do with you."
Gao Hui looked at Gu Zhengchen coldly: "If you have anything to say, it's best to finish it as soon as possible. Someone from the provincial office will come in three days at most. By then, I'll see if you still dare to beat Shangguan and resist." Arrest!”
Gu Zhengchen walked to the window and said slowly: "Tang Xian was in good health on weekdays, but he died in the prison cell because of 'real heartache'. Gao Shenzheng, ask yourself, what have you done in Fujian Province these years?" Does what you did really hurt?"
Gao Hui's expression changed: "Why, do you still want to murder me?"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head: "Murder? Oh, who said it was murder when Tang Xian died? You, Gao Shenzheng, knew that Tang Xian was dead. Why didn't you go back to the government office to ask Qin Xin for an explanation for such a big matter? Instead, you ran there with peace of mind. Tong'an? I have good reasons and evidence, and I ordered the staff to punish a general judge in accordance with the law. He was accidentally beaten to death, so you accepted my seal of prefect. Why did you turn a blind eye to the death of Tang Xian when Qin Xin acted as the government official? "
"Bu Shou said that you have a clean mind and serve the people wholeheartedly. Bu Zhongsheng said that you are loyal to the court, put national affairs first and do not care about personal gain. Bu Shuzi said that you govern well and do not favor personal interests. Gao Shenzhen, the person they are talking about - is it really you? ?”
