After signing and postponing the painting, Lu Renyou collapsed and knelt there, with no trace of blood on his face.
Zhang Jingrui took the confession and waved his hand. The guards understood and tied him up and took him down.
The latter seemed to be suddenly aroused, and shouted in a trembling voice: "The villain has told everything he knows. I beg you, sir, to be lenient, to be lenient."
His crime is a light one, beheading the capital.
The sound gradually faded away until it disappeared.
Zhang Jingrui didn't show any joy after solving the case. Instead, he had a solemn look on his face, for the sake of the people of Lu'an.
While sorting the files and documents on the desk, he said: "It's getting late, so that's it for today. You all go down and have a rest."
"No." The clerks and guards in charge of recording saluted in unison.
The next day.
The first person Zhang Jingrui interrogated was the Lu'an County Magistrate. This time, there were not only the clerk in charge of recording, but also Yu Dongqing, the county lieutenant, who could also be regarded as a procedural jury.
Gao Xian Cheng was the most impatient among the corrupt officials. When he was brought to court, he raised the shackles on his hands in dissatisfaction and said, "Master Shangshu, what do you mean! Even if there is something wrong with his humble position, he is still an official of the imperial court. He has never been How can you be condemned and put in shackles?"
"You have the nerve to be called an official of the imperial court!" Zhang Jingrui scolded him angrily: "You beast! As a county magistrate, you are devouring the king's salary, but you don't want to repay the king's kindness. You betray the country at the top and abuse the people at the bottom. To use a county official to kill the people and rule the people is simply worse than a pig or a dog, and it is completely unconscionable!"
"What's more, when he saw the incident was exposed, he assassinated his accomplices, deceived the superiors and concealed the truth from the subordinates, and was extremely vicious!"
"You seem to be such cruel sycophants. Now that you have done this, you have no intention of repenting and yet you dare to speak so loudly here! How shameless!"
Gao Xian Cheng's face turned red and white as he was being punished.
Zhang Jingrui said again: "Let me ask you! How did you pay for and instruct the assassin to assassinate Wang Shaocheng!"
When Gao Xiancheng realized what he was talking about, he didn't know that the people in front of him had already confessed, so he started to be confused: "I don't understand what the Lord Shangshu is talking about."
"You don't understand?" Zhang Jingrui sneered, "Show him Lu Renyou's confession!"
As before, the guard took the paper and walked forward to show it.
Gao Xiancheng's eyes widened. When he saw Lu Renyou's signature, he couldn't help but get excited, but he still argued: "This, this is Lu Renyou's one-sided statement! He must be framing me! Lord Shangshu knows it clearly!"
"Are all these testimonies trying to frame you?" Zhang Jingrui raised a pile of official documents in his hand and said coldly: "You thief, it's better to tell the truth today. If you dare to use clever words to deceive again, , I will punish you severely!"
As he spoke, he raised his voice: "Here comes someone!"
"Here!" the guard responded.
Just like Lu Renyou, seeing these evidences, listening to these words, and seeing the guards staring at him again, the furious Gao Xian Cheng couldn't help but slump, and his face immediately turned pale: "Say it, I'll just say it."
"The assassination of Wang Shaocheng was decided by several of us together. I can't do it alone. Lu Renyou is completely evading responsibility."
"These officers will ask you to confront him in court. Tell me about the assassin. Where did you find him? What is his name and where is he from?" Zhang Jingrui asked.
Gao Xian Cheng swallowed: "The assassin is a member of my family. His name is Hei Qi. He is originally from Suhe. He only took refuge with me a few years ago. But after he acted, I gave him some money. He left Lu'an, and I don't know where he is now."
"As for the others, tell me their height and appearance," Zhang Jingrui said.
"Height, he is about the same height as me. As for his appearance, he has a flat nose, square face, short beard, and a black mole on his left eyebrow." Gao Xian Cheng reluctantly explained.
"Record it on record." Zhang Jingrui said, looking at Yu Dongqing: "Later, in my name, I will notify all the Wuwei Mansion in the Jianghuai area to arrest this person!"
"Yes!" Yu Dongqing said solemnly, clasping his fists.
With these explanations, the ensuing interrogation was no longer troublesome. Regarding the corruption of Lu'an Dam, Gao Xiancheng's confession was compared with Lu Renyou's, and both sides were basically consistent. because
Because at this time, apart from finding ways to mitigate their crimes, they no longer dared to hide anything.
After Gao County Prime Minister, Meng Xiang, the Prime Minister of Water Conservancy, and Mr. Fang from the county came. After these two people knew that the matter was revealed and the evidence was conclusive, they confessed faster than the county magistrate.
Finally, there is the county magistrate Guo Baode.
He is the most important mastermind. After entering the hall, like the county magistrate, he first made a fuss. This kind of fussing was also a struggle with a guilty conscience.
"Zhang Shangshu! My parents in the next county have always been kind and kind to the people since they took office. They feel that they are worthy of the people. You can't do this to me!"
"What are you talking about? Be kind to the people? Do you deserve the people?"
It's okay that he didn't say this. As soon as he said this, Zhang Jingrui became furious. He even slapped the table angrily and stood up. He pointed at the empty space and said: "Guo Baode! How dare you say this!"
"As a seventh-ranking official in the imperial court and a county magistrate, I don't want to treat the people well on behalf of His Majesty, but instead collude with others, take bribes and pervert the law, and bring disaster to one party!"
"As a chief administrator, you colluded with officials to embezzle funds for sewage projects, causing the floods to burst, killing tens of thousands of people! And you are still sucking the blood of the common people! You allow big households to annex fertile land and waste human life!"
"Such heinous crimes must be eradicated by God!"
"Thank you for being able to come to the court, but you still talk so shamelessly and keep claiming that you are the official of the parents of a county. Don't you know the word shame?"
"This, this." Guo Baode's face was extremely ugly after being scolded, but he couldn't find the words to refute.
"Shut up!" Zhang Jingrui was extremely angry: "The culprit like you is so evil that you have lost your conscience and even being cut into pieces with a thousand swords is not enough to appease your anger!"
"Detain me! Put me on death row!"
"No!" The guards on both sides responded immediately.
This is not even giving me a chance to confess.
Guo Baode was startled and said in a panic: "Master Shangshu, isn't it a court judge? What does this mean?"
"You shameless thief! I am ashamed to be in the same room with you!" Zhang Jingrui's anger continued: "Wan Chuan, this thief will be interrogated by your Jinyi Guards, and the confession file will be sent to me later."
"Yes! Sir, please rest assured!" Wan Chuan was shocked and immediately accepted the order. For him, this is a good job.
Although Guo Baode's crime has been confirmed and the evidence is conclusive, the interrogation process still needs to be followed.
But in the hands of Jin Yiwei, he is not as disciplined as Zhang Jingrui, and at least he has to peel off his skin.
Guo Baode also heard the name Jin Yiwei and was frightened to death. When he was pulled down, he was still shouting desperately: "Master Shangshu, I am willing to accept your interrogation and cooperate with the imperial envoy's investigation."
But it was too late, no one paid attention to him anymore.
