It is not surprising that a magistrate dies, and he is not the only magistrate who dies in office.
Strangely, the magistrate died in the dungeon.
The dungeon in Dingyuan is located in the southwest corner of the county government office. Strictly speaking, it is inappropriate to call it a dungeon or a prison.
The names of ancient prisons have been changing. For example, in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, they were called "Xiatai" and "Youli"; in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, they were called "Huantu" and "囹圹"; in the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, they were called "Prisons"; in the Ming Dynasty, they were called "Prisons". It is called "prison" or "prison".
The term "prison" did not appear until the Qing Dynasty.
The "prison" in the Ming Dynasty was also called the "Southern Prison" because of its location. It was divided into internal prisons, external prisons, men's prisons, women's prisons, concierges, and case rooms.
Among them, the internal prison is a luxurious residence for singles (in most cases) prepared for felons and important criminals; the external prison is a residence prepared for some unknown and inconspicuous prisoners.
The place where Wu Maocai was detained was the internal prison.
If you want to enter the inner prison, you first need to enter the hall, and then pass through the concierge and case room doors before entering the inner prison.
"Boss Cheng, judging from the current situation, he was poisoned to death. There is blood at the corner of his mouth, and there are no external injuries on his body. Judging from his bulging abdomen and chest, the poison should have been released after eating."
After inspecting Wu Maocai's body, Tang Buping, the head of the Security Bureau, reported to Xiong Wu Chenghui.
"Bring the execution chamber officials and the pian officials here!"
Xiong Wucheng said sharply.
Soon, the clerk and the clerk were taken to the inner prison. When they looked at the dead Wu Caimao, their faces turned pale.
Xiong Wucheng sat on the stool and said coldly: "Wu Caimao is dead, but you are still alive. But in my opinion, you two can accompany him soon, unless..."
The officials and officials quickly begged for mercy.
"Tell me, who killed Wu Caimao?"
Xiong Wucheng stared at the two people with sharp eyes. When he saw the clerk's eyes wandering and his face uneasy, he looked at Tang Buyi and said, "It's the clerk who did this. Take him out and torture him severely." Torture!”
"Sir, it wasn't me, it wasn't me who did it..."
The official was frightened and wanted to defend himself, but was taken out.
Xiong Wucheng walked towards the clerk, leaned over and said: "There is no one else now. Do you want to say it or not? Or are you strong enough to withstand the punishment?"
The official was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. Seeing Xiong Wucheng holding a dart in his hand, he backed away tremblingly and said inarticulately: "Don't kill me, it's not me..."
"Not you? Do you want me to give you a chance to correct yourself?"
Xiong Wucheng stepped forward, grabbed the clerk's neck, lifted him up, and pressed him against the wall, pointing the dart in his hand at the clerk's eyes.
"I said, I said..."
The officials were extremely frightened.
Just when Xiong Wucheng wanted to ask a question, he smelled a disgusting smell. When he lowered his head, he saw that this guy was a coward. How could he kill someone if he was such a coward?
"Demon Town Museum"
Letting go of the clerk, Xiong Wucheng took two steps back and said sternly: "Speak!"
"It's the county magistrate. He ordered the boy to deliver food to Wuzhi County. I didn't know it was poisonous..."
The Secretary's words made Xiong Wucheng's eyes turn cold. He quickly walked out of the cell, glanced at the Secretary, flicked his hand and hit the Secretary's hand with a dart, and said: "How to deal with you is Master Yu's business."
The clerk cried.
Since it's Master Yu's business, why did you give me a dart?
Xiong Wucheng's premonition was correct. Not only the county magistrate Wu Caimao died, but also the county magistrate Zhou Zhong who committed suicide by hanging from a beam.
After hearing Xiong Wucheng's report, Yu Xin said seriously: "Killing the county magistrate and forcing the county magistrate to death in front of us is a rare person in the capital. It seems that the other party's background is not simple, let's Chief, come in."
Xiong Wucheng looked at the door, and Xie Gang, the chief clerk, staggered in, knelt down, and shouted: "Please save my life, sir."
. "
"Whether you can survive or not depends entirely on your performance. Just tell me. There are no other ears here."
Yu Xin walked down the hall and said in a deep voice.
Xie Gang looked frightened, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, there is another mountain in Dingyuan City!"
"who?"
Yu Xin's eyes lit up.
"The magistrate calls him Mr. Gu and Jin."
Xie Gang gritted his teeth and said.
Xiong Wucheng quickly asked: "Where does he live?"
"I don't know."
"You know this person, but you tell me you don't know where he lives?"
"Sir, I really don't know. Mr. Gu and Jin is mysterious. Even when he visits the county government, he only comes in black clothes at night. I really don't know his true identity. Only the magistrate and the county magistrate have seen him."
Xie Gang explained quickly.
Xiong Wucheng frowned. For a county, the magistrate is the chief official, the second official is the county magistrate, and the chief registrar can only be regarded as the second second official.
It would make sense if he didn't know.
"No need to ask. If you follow a line of inquiry, you will always find this mysterious Mr. Gu and Jin."
Yu Xin looked at Xiong Wucheng and said seriously.
"Which line?"
Xiong Wucheng was a little confused. Now that the county magistrate and county magistrate are dead, and the chief bookkeeper doesn't know about it, how can he still investigate?
Yu Xin only said one word: "food."
Immediately, the hero became enlightened!
yes!
Food is the most important thing. Doesn’t this mysterious ancient and modern person control all the food stores in Dingyuan? As long as you follow the food line, you can always find the person in charge. Even if that person is not Mr. Gu and Jin, he must have a close relationship with him.
He was almost taken to the sewer because of the deaths of the county magistrate and the county magistrate.
Xiong Wucheng bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice, sir. I'll go check it out right away."
"Investigate secretly. In addition, I went to Wanchun Tower to arrange a banquet. I personally invited the Dingyuan gentry to come to the banquet. If they don't even give me this face, haha, it means that this Dingyuan gentry is no longer the imperial court. of people.”
Yu Xin said with cold eyes.
Xiong Wucheng nodded and turned to make arrangements.
On the banks of the Muchun River, a small black-topped boat was tied to the rocks on the shore. On the bow of the boat, a middle-aged man holding a fishing rod and wearing a green curtain hat sat on the bow. The fish float sank slightly, and the water rippled.
"The fish is hooked."
An old man with a cane and pale hair came over. His legs and feet were not so agile and he was always limping.
"Uncle Wu Yuan, this is not the fish I want."
Qu You put away the fishing rod, but there was nothing above the fishhook.
Wu Yuan watched Qu You hook up the bait again and throw it into the river. He smiled and said, "Sir, there is an article to write today. Do you want to do it?"
"tell me the story."
Qu You asked calmly.
Wu Yuan looked around, then leaned over and said: "Yuge invited the gentry to the old banquet. Isn't this a small article?"
Qu You looked at Wu Yuan, with a smile on his lips, and said: "We are just grinders. The ones who can make articles are the important officials of the court who hold pens."
"Go then, or not?"
Wu Yuan asked for instructions.
Qu You smiled and said: "Go, why not go? The court and cabinet ministers still have to give face. However, going to eat is one thing, delivering food is another. How do you know how to do it? I don't need to tell you, right?" "
Wu Yuan tapped the ground with his crutch, making two thuds, and said: "I know, but I'm worried that they will use their power to suppress others and take it by force."
"Then tell them that the grain has been sold to the capital."
A trace of hatred flashed in Qu You's eyes.
Wu Yuan bowed and left slowly on crutches.
Wanchun Tower is lively.
Yu Xin and Huang Zicheng sat in the village and invited more than thirty wealthy gentry households in Dingyuan to be their guests.
People arrive
After the dishes were gathered and the greetings were exchanged, Yu Xin went straight to the point: "According to the court's disaster relief policy, the refugees from Huaiyuan were temporarily moved to Dingyuan, waiting for the floods to recede before returning to their hometowns to reorganize. Now the disaster preparedness food in Dingyuan has been sold out by the county magistrate, and he wants to Resettling the refugees requires your full efforts."
The Dingyuan gentry remained silent.
Seeing this, Huang Zicheng said in a deep voice: "The imperial court will not allow you to lose. It can buy rice at a high price of one tael of silver and one stone. So, what are you still dissatisfied with? If someone is waiting for an opportunity to hoard grain without selling it, intending to raise the price of rice Go higher, but the gains outweigh the losses.”
"There is a clear order in the "Da Ming Law" of my dynasty. Anyone who buys or sells things that are not in harmony with each other, but controls the market and only takes advantage of them. Those who sell things with low prices as high prices and buy things with high prices as low prices will be punished with eighty sticks. Everyone. How to make a decision and give a result."
The gentry looked around, Wu Yuan sighed, stood up tremblingly, and said: "Wu is a grain merchant in Dingyuan. It's just an unlucky time for you to come. Some time ago, the capital built a granary outside Jinshui Gate. , when we saw that there was profit to be made, we sold all the excess grain to the capital. There is really no grain to sell at the moment. If you don’t believe it, you can go into the house and search."
"Yes, we have sold all our food. The remaining food in hand is just enough to feed our family. As an official of the imperial court, you must be fair and honest. Don't you think you will take away the basis of our survival to live as refugees?"
Qiu Dalai said sideways.
Yu Xin's eyes were cold. This group of people seemed to be very tough and even somewhat confrontational.
As for the reason, Yu Xin can also speculate.
Lan Yu and Li Shanchang appeared in Dingyuan. Li Shanchang died after being involved in the Hu Weiyong case, not to mention the Lan Yu case. Both of them were executed for "treason" and implicated countless officials and generals.
As for their hometown of Dingyuan, the liquidation was not easy, and many families were destroyed.
Not to mention the settlement of the two cases, after Zhu Yunwen came to power, he implemented a whip, a national policy to curb land annexation, and a policy of taxing all land, all of which affected the interests of the gentry, and presumably they suffered a lot of losses.
Although these people did not dare to openly confront the court, if they did not cooperate with the disaster relief, the court would not be able to do anything to them.
Forcibly seize the gentry's food?
Refugees can do this kind of thing, but the court cannot do it.
The reason is very simple. Once the court arbitrarily seizes the property of the gentry, what prestige will the court have?
If this example occurs, any official can find an excuse to take away all the property of the gentry's family! In order to protect their property, these people will inevitably stand on the opposite side of the court, and big trouble will inevitably occur.
Unless the court has evidence or creates evidence, they will be convicted of crimes and their properties will be confiscated.
But judging from the calm and composed appearance of these people, I am afraid that the food has been hidden, and it will not be easy to find evidence.
Seeing that these people were unwilling to give food, Xiong Wucheng knocked on the table and said coldly: "Everyone, the refugees want to eat. If they can't find food and become hungry, they will become a refugee mob. I'll wait for you when the time comes." The yarn is not guaranteed, what about you guys? If any house door is not tight and something unexpected happens, will you regret it?"
Listening to Xiong Wucheng's naked threats, the gentry looked a little ugly.
Are the officials from the imperial court acting like hooligans? Are they going to quit and let the refugees bully us and other gentry?
This is a problem. Although I have a few dogs at home, they can't defeat thousands of refugees...
It seemed that these ministers planned to kill a thousand enemies and inflict eight hundred losses on themselves.
"Sir, we really don't have any extra food in hand. Everyone knows that the imperial court is in urgent need of food for disaster relief, so yesterday we arranged for people to go to the surrounding counties to purchase food. However, it will take five or six days to transport the food..."
Wu Yuan said in embarrassment.
Xiong Wucheng suddenly stood up and shouted: "Do we still need to wait for you on May or Sixth? The court food has also been delivered! Xiong said it bluntly here, whoever does not agree to provide food today will die for a Huaiyuan citizen, and the Security Bureau will I will keep an eye on you until you are buried!"
