Li Zongfeng committed suicide, which somewhat benefited him.
Twenty-one people died in the shipwreck, plus the deaths of Lin Zhuo and others. According to the law, people like Li Zongfeng could not survive, and they would definitely be beheaded.
Although he had a relationship with Li Chengyi as a master, Gu Zhengchen still showed no mercy and ordered the government officials to search Li Zongfeng's home. In the end, he calculated more than 5,000 taels of money and food. The government office kept 2,000 taels and the other 3,000 taels were used to compensate the families who had been harmed. .
When checking the compensation list, Hufang Huang Fei came to Gu Zhengchen: "Master, there is a family here named Zhou Hong. He was the only son in the family and died in the shipwreck. But Zhou Hong's father died ten years ago, and his mother also died. He died of illness two years ago and has no living relatives.”
Gu Zhengchen frowned and looked at the list: "If there is no one left, we can only cancel the compensation and put the remaining silver into the treasury."
Huang Fei looked a little strange, took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it over, and said softly: "I asked people in Zhoujiazhuang, they said that Zhou Hong had an engagement letter, and although he was not married, after Zhou Hong's mother died of illness, It is the elders of the woman's family who are responsible for the burial. It is difficult to judge whether this person is a relative or not, so I ask the governor to make a decision."
Gu Zhengchen took the paper without reading it: "Go and inquire. If the woman is not married, compensate her. If the woman is married, let it go."
Huang Fei drooped his eyes: "Master Fu, you'd better take a look."
Gu Zhengchen picked up the paper, opened it, looked at it, and suddenly stared: "Lin Chengyi?"
Huang Fei nodded heavily: "According to the investigation, Zhou Hong indeed made a marriage contract with Lin Chengyi from Shuangxi Kou. However, something unexpected happened to Zhou Hong. The Zhou family disappeared instantly, and the marriage ended without any problems. Now Lin Old Man Zhuo is gone again..."
Gu Zhengchen raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows.
Gu Zhengchen didn't ask about Lin Chengyi's life experience in detail, but he knew that her past was not good. Lin Zhuo never mentioned her parents, and she didn't mention them either. She thought her parents were gone long ago. Lin Chengyi is a good girl, and it stands to reason that no one would come to her house for matchmaking. However, Lin Chengyi did not get married, but lived with her grandfather and grandmother. Perhaps this was related to Zhou Hong's death.
"Compensate like everyone else."
Gu Zhengchen made arrangements, then called the Bu family files and looked through them carefully.
Bu Shou, Bu Zhongsheng, and Bu Suanzi gave a lot of explanations, but nothing was said about the provincial officials. Gao Hui's son married Bu Zhongsheng's daughter, and Gao Hui repeatedly took action against him. There really was no profit consideration or self-protection behind this. factor?
"Go to the prison cell."
Gu Zhengchen stood up and took Xiao Cheng and Lin Baifan to the prison room.
When Bu Shou heard the noise, he opened his eyes and saw Gu Zhengchen walking in. He chuckled and said, "It's really surprising that you are still in the government office."
Lin Baifan put the chair down, Gu Zhengchen sat down, raised his hand, ordered Xiao Cheng and Lin Baifan to go out, and then said to Bu Shou: "You are not overthrown by you, I am disappointed. Now Chen Tai, Lu Zongyi, and Wang Kegong are all Now that you're gone, no one can interfere with Quanzhou Prefecture's affairs. I'm here to tell you that your execution date is set for three days."
Bu Shou's expression changed: "Why didn't the people from the provincial government arrest you? Gu Zhengchen, what do you rely on?"
Gu Zhengchen pointed to his chest: "A heart for the people!"
Bu Shou stood up, his chains clattering, and his low voice was mixed with anger: "You can't protect your head with your heart for the people! Rules are the most important thing in the court. Without rules, there is no place. You broke the rules, why are you still here? "
Seeing Bu Shou's expression become ferocious, Gu Zhengchen chuckled: "You are a smart man, why can't you understand this?"
Bu Shou gritted his teeth: "Unless the emperor gives you a decree, you are allowed to kill it first and report it later! But you are just a young man who has just entered the official career. How could the emperor give you such a decree?"
Gu Zhengchen crossed his legs and said, "You know the reasons and the results, but you keep questioning the reasons and denying the results. Bu Shou, at your age, you should be able to afford to lose, right?"
Bu Shou was in great pain.
The moment Gu Zhengchen killed Yang Baiju with a stick, he should have guessed that Gu Zhengchen was a big deal, and he should have thought that he came with a will in his hand! When he imprisoned Tang Xian and wanted to arrest Wu Kang, the Bu family should prepare to retreat and leave, instead of waiting for Gu Zhengchen to approach step by step, so that they could not escape even if they wanted to!
In the end, I underestimated Gu Zhengchen and didn't really take him seriously.
When attention was paid to him, the situation was out of control.
Gu Zhengchen played with a copper coin, lowered his head and said, "Bu Shou, I am here for two things. Before I talk about these two things, I need to tell you that Liu Niang surrendered with Bu Yin, and Bu Zhongsheng's family members also Caught.”
Bu Shou took a step back, sat down dejectedly, and whispered: "You can't kill them!"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head, took out a stack of paper from his sleeve and threw it out: "Whether or not to kill them does not depend on me, but on you. The first thing is that I have just arrived in Quanzhou Mansion and took office soon. You have obtained these intelligence messages. I want to know who has such extraordinary ability to investigate clearly what I did in Jurong and Jinling in a short period of time!"
Bu Shou looked at Gu Zhengchen, opening and closing his mouth several times without saying anything.
Gu Zhengchen crossed his arms and asked coldly: "The Bu family is about to be destroyed, and you are still keeping secrets for others. This is really admirable. I just don't know who the person you are protecting is." Can I burn paper money for the Bu family, or can I erect a monument for the Bu family?"
Bu Shou lowered his head and gritted his teeth and asked: "Gu Zhifu, if I tell you, can you save Bu Yin from death?"
"cannot!"
Gu Zhengchen answered simply, and then said to the unwilling Bu Shou: "Bu Yin is just a child. According to the imperial law, children are not guilty of many crimes. I can let Bu Yin go temporarily and report the truth to the court. As long as the emperor does not change his mind, Document, if I don’t change the verdict, at least Bu Yin will not die under my butcher knife. If the emperor gets angry and kills all of them, I will not be able to control him."
Bu Shou shook his head: "If you tell me, the emperor's anger will be even greater, and the Bu family will definitely be destroyed. Magistrate Gu, don't ask about this matter anymore. As for the second thing you want to say, I think it is As for Gao Shenzhen, he is an upright official, not a corrupt person. The reason why he mobilized troops and mobilized people and repeatedly took action against Magistrate Gu was because the Bu family instigated and guided him behind the scenes and said a lot of bad things about Magistrate Gu. "
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "Why will the emperor's anger be even greater if you tell him?"
Bu Shou sighed: "The Bu family lost, Magistrate Gu, you won. The rest is not important, there is no need to check again, and there is no need to check again."
Gu Zhengchen stood up and walked towards Bu Shou: "Could it be that the person who delivered the intelligence information to you was an important minister of the DPRK? These messages describe the Jurong Guo case in detail, and those who have access to these documents, except officials from the Ministry of Punishments, He’s an official from Yushitai and Zhongshu Province!”
Bu Shou smiled sadly: "Why do you need to speculate again, Magistrate Gu? If you tell me, this little thing alone is not enough to kill him. If he doesn't die, the descendants of the Bu family will die. Rather than saying that it will cause annihilation, it is better to believe that Magistrate Gu still has Conscience will not destroy humanity. Just like when you were in Jurong, you spared women and children!"
Gu Zhengchen stared at Bu Shou: "Are you serious about not telling me?"
"nature."
Bu Shou spoke firmly.
Gu Zhengchen nodded, turned around, walked to the door of the prison cell, and turned around again: "I wish I had no humanity, so that I could kill the entire Bu family without leaving anyone behind. It's a pity that I can't do it! I'll take your heads." It’s decided, as for the fate of the Bu family’s women and children—leave it to our emperor!”
Bu Shou looked at Gu Zhengchen leaving, tears finally falling down.
Emperor Zhu was a ruthless master, and the fate of the Bu family's women and children would not be much better.
Xiao Cheng followed Gu Zhengchen and asked: "The Bu family has reached this point, why doesn't he explain it? If we speculate based on common sense, the people behind the scenes want to save themselves, but now there is no one to save them. .”
Gu Zhengchen sighed: "No one can save them, but someone can harm them. Such detailed information cannot be obtained by ordinary people. This person must have some form of collusion with the Bu family. But it’s still unclear whether it’s just an information trading business or some kind of closer relationship.”
Xiao Cheng looked at Gu Zhengchen, who looked worried, and asked, "Are you worried that this person has a close relationship with the Bu family, and what will he do after you kill people from the Bu family?"
Gu Zhengchen did have this worry. .??m
There are not many people who can get this information. Jurong officials only know part of the matter, and it is impossible to know many things about Gu Zhengchen in Jinling. The most important thing is that some paragraphs of the description of the Guo family's major case in this intelligence message were directly copied from the official document he wrote to the court. The Jurong officials had never seen this official document, and it was impossible to have access to it after it was sent out.
Therefore, it can only be someone or an official in Jinling!
Gu Zhengchen is not in Jinling, but his mother is, Zhang Xiwan is there, Gu Qingqing and others are also there. If the person who delivers the news is too close to the Bu family, will he become angry because he killed the Bu family and destroyed the power of the Bu family, and take action against his family in Aurous Hill?
The Bu family's methods are sinister and vicious, and killing is not an option for them.
Xiao Cheng thought for a while and said: "There should be no problem in Jinling. There are inspections and patrols around the school. It is not that easy to move people to attack. Besides, if someone dares to attack the family members of officials, then they have offended all officials. If they do not It will not stop until it is thoroughly investigated and eradicated, and no one will take such a risk."
Officials are all about a sense of security. No one wants anyone to do something dirty to anyone, and no one is allowed to hire a killer to carry out an assassination.
This is the consensus of the gentry class. It is the basic bottom line that the two countries will not fight without fighting.
At least that's the case on the surface, but it doesn't rule out that some people are not smart, are in a bad mood, and kill people by copying people overtly or covertly.
Gu Zhengchen looked solemn and said in a deep voice: "The officialdom in Quanzhou has been basically resolved, and it's time for Qin Song, Mei Hong and other Jurong Guard sergeants to go back. Xiao Cheng, do you want to go back to Jinling to see your family?"
