Jurong County Government.
Cui Wei, the county magistrate, put away his brush, slowly reached out to take off his official hat and put it on the table. He reached out and stroked the official hat, his eyes full of reluctance and nostalgia.
The chair was moved.
Cui Wei stood on the chair, raised a stool, hung the white silk on the beam, tied the knot, took a deep breath, put it around his neck, and said with a trembling voice: "My lord, I'm sorry. emperor."
The stool fell to the ground, and the person began to struggle and sway, and the amplitude became smaller and smaller, until finally, there was no more swing.
When Guo Gang entered the county government office, there were already cries in the back hall. Zhang Lai, the county magistrate, was not only sad, but also a little lucky. After all, the dead were easily blamed for everything. The dead were blamed for everything. At least his own life was It can be saved.
Wu Tian, the leader of the yamen team, had people follow Guo Gang with shackles, and found an opportunity to expose Guo Gang: "The county magistrate and the chief clerk have plundered a lot of money and colluded with Guo Hai. Many things were not known to the county magistrate. They suppressed it privately."
When Guo Gang saw that Wu Tian didn't look like he was lying, he immediately ordered all Jurong County government officials and their families to be controlled. No one was allowed to enter or exit at will, and he strictly ordered the officials' properties to be investigated thoroughly to ensure a thorough investigation.
Inn.
Luo Sheng, Luo Hua, and Luo Guanying knelt in front of Zhu Yunzhen, not daring to raise their heads.
Zhu Yunwen looked through the account books. As time passed, the Luo family became more and more uneasy.
Guo Gang walked into the room and reported: "The people of the Guo family are kneeling outside the county government office in shackles and shackles. Yang Shangshu and Tie Shangshu have arrived at the county government office and are interrogating the county magistrate, the chief registrar and other officials."
Zhu Yunwen nodded, and then threw an account book to Luo Hua: "Currently, cement is in short supply and prices are increasing. Why does the price of cement in this account book go against common sense and be sold below the market price? Who is this Mr. Zhao, Mr. Chen? Who is it? Why did he take the cement at a price lower than the court’s price?”
When Luo Sheng saw that Luo Hua was silent, he had no choice but to plead guilty: "Your Majesty, we have made mistakes, please punish us."
"Mistake? Did you make a mistake?!"
Zhu Yunwen stood up, swept a stack of account books to the ground, and walked towards Luo Sheng with an angry look on his face: "This is a violation of Ming law and a crime!"
Luo Sheng turned pale, turned to look at Luo Hua, and asked, "What on earth did you do?"
Luo Hua had no choice but to raise his head slightly and shouted to Zhu Yunwen: "I was confused for a moment and accepted the bribe."
boom!
Zhu Yunwen raised his foot, kicked Luo Hua aside, and shouted: "Minister? What kind of minister are you? I don't remember giving you an official position. What kind of official are you? What rank are you?"
Luo Hua quickly crawled back and begged for mercy on his knees: "The common people are confused."
The official position of the Luo family in Jurong was only given to Mrs. Guo. Luo Sheng and Luo Hua were not Luo Yan'er's fathers, but just uncles. Naturally, the court did not need to give them official positions.
Zhu Yunwen's eyes were cold and stern, and he asked: "Tell me, what's going on with the fighting in the Songshan Mine? Where did you get such great means and energy, and how dare you do such a thing without telling me!"
Luo Hua trembled and looked at Luo Sheng, hoping that Luo Sheng would speak for him.
Luo Sheng knew that his younger brother was greedy and timid, so he wanted to say a few words for him, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Zhu Yunwen scolded him: "I told him to say it! He committed a crime, do you have to bear it for him? "
Luo Sheng shut up.
Luo Hua had no choice but to explain: "It's because of Guo Hai, yes, it's all because of Guo Hai. He and his people wanted to take away the mine. The miners wanted to prevent the mine from being taken away, so the conflict broke out."
Zhu Yunwen asked: "Songshan Mine is not under the control of the Luo family, right?"
Luo Hua's face looked a little ugly: "It belongs to the Luo family. It was the Luo family's craftsmen who discovered and dug it first. However, the Guo family bought the mining rights from the government first..."
Zhu Yunwen understood that the Songshan Mine was first discovered by the Luo family craftsmen, but in order to save some money, he immediately occupied it and prepared to open the mountain. He had no intention of buying the mining rights or paying the court the money.
Guo Hai seized the loophole, bought the mining rights, and obtained the mining qualifications recognized by the government. Everything after that was simple. With the mining rights, Guo Hai naturally had to send people to open the mountain. It was reasonable to drive away the Luo family's guys. Luo Hua refused to agree to the matter, so they quarreled. After the quarrel, if they were not convinced, they would fight.
There was a fight in the Songshan Mine, and dozens of people died. The reason was just that the Luo family wanted to save a fortune in mining!
How can people be so greedy and hateful? I have allowed the Guo and Luo families to almost monopolize the limestone mines in Jurong, but they still tried their best to save costs. The Guo family created Guo Hai to keep labor costs to a minimum. , wishing to use people as social animals, Luo Hua was born in the Luo family, and he was not even willing to pay the basic mining fees to the court!
"Okay, very good. You are really powerful at embezzling, accepting bribes, defying the court's laws and opening mines privately, gathering people to fight, and coercing the county government to cover up the incident! Guo Hai was punished by me. Do you also want to have a taste of Lingchi? ?”
Zhu Yunwen scolded angrily.
Luo Hua swallowed his saliva and quickly begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, we were wrong. For the sake of Concubine Shu and Mrs. Guo's face, please spare our lives. We are willing to give up the Songshan Mine and pay the Mining costs..."
Zhu Yunwen raised his feet again and shouted to Luo Hua who was lying aside: "You have done so many evil deeds, does Shu Concubine still have face? Mrs. Guo is dead, who can protect you? From the beginning, I asked Shu The concubine has warned you that you must do things worthy of your conscience and the people of Jurong, but what about you? You have failed me, you have failed Concubine Shu, and now you are begging for mercy? It’s too late! The soup is unfair!"
"exist!"
Tang Buping stood up.
"Your Majesty, we are also working for the imperial court! Over the years, more than 30% of the concrete in the Suzhou-Hangzhou area and the concrete road from Suzhou to Huai'an has been supplied by our Luo family. Your Majesty, please consider that we are working for the imperial court. , Rao Luo’s family is full!”
Luo Guanhua shouted.
Zhu Yunwen stared at Luo Guanhua with cold eyes and said in a deep voice: "Luo Guanying went to the West to do things for the imperial court. Why do you do things for the imperial court? The cement these years was not dug by you, Luo Guanying, nor by your father. You are just They are just sitting back and enjoying the benefits, relying on Concubine Shu's relationship to eat human blood! Those miners and craftsmen are the ones working for the court!"
Luo Guanhua gritted his teeth and shouted: "I also want to go to sea like Luo Guanying, do you allow me? I also want to enter the Imperial College, do you allow me? I will be detained in this small county in Jurong, and I can only do so every day. What kind of brother-in-law are you when you have to deal with dirty cement!”
"Snapped!"
Luo Sheng slapped Luo Guanhua on the face, then knelt down to Zhu Yunwen: "Your Majesty, he was just confused for a moment."
Zhu Yunwen looked at the stubborn and unyielding Luo Guanhua, chuckled, shook his head and said: "Why did I choose Luo Guanying? Because he is down-to-earth, because he has a tough character, is willing to endure hardships, and can endure hardships. And you, you learned a lot of greed from your father. With desire, I want this better, that better, but I never thought about putting in the effort!"
"You said you wanted to go to the Imperial College, have you ever studied? The social school has opened, and you can also go to the county school. Have you studied? You said you want to go to sea. There are rivers in this sentence. You have learned to swim. You have learned to swim. Controlling a ship? No! It’s not that I kept you in Jurong, but that you never tried hard to leave Jurong! Do you know that Luo Guanying risked his life to work hard in order to become better, and you Well, just enjoying here!”
Luo Guanhua was stunned on the spot.
Zhu Yunwen turned his back and ordered: "Luo Sheng of the Luo family is not strict in discipline, fifty canes! Luo Hua of the Luo family is greedy, despises the court, bullies miners, accepts bribes, causes fights and causes death, fifty canes. His family property will be confiscated and he will be sent to the Songshan Mine for ten years of hard labor! Luo Guanhua of the Luo family is unwilling to make progress and conspires with his father to oppress the local area. He will be given a thirty-year rod and will be sent to Jiaozhi Aizhou Port! Let's receive the punishment after Mrs. Guo is buried."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing me!"
Luo Sheng thanked him.
Luo Hua was devastated. After years of hard work, it all came to nothing and he was even sentenced to ten years of hard labor! This life is over, completely over.
Luo Guanhua was not so disappointed, but rather excited. Jiaozhi was far away, but Jiaozhi Aizhou Port was a good place. It was the naval base there. The emperor was preparing to let himself go to the navy for training!
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"
Luo Guanhua saluted heavily.
As for the father, there is no need to worry. There is still an uncle in the Luo family. As long as Concubine Shu is here, it will not be ruined. He will not be tired even if he is forced to do some work in the mine. This way of dealing with it is already magnanimous for the brother-in-law.
Tang Buping took away Luo Sheng and others and ordered people to confiscate the Luo family's property. Considering Shu Fei and Luo Guanying, when the Security Bureau confiscated the property, many of the property were assigned to Luo Sheng. The Security Bureau only took half of it, which can be regarded as Water was released. After all, the emperor said that Luo Hua's family's property was confiscated, and Luo Sheng and Luo Hua had already separated, so it was not included in the confiscation.
"Go to the county government office."
Zhu Yunwen did not stop. He saw the Guo family kneeling outside the county government gate. He did not ask about the fact that Guo Xu only wore shackles but not shackles. He did not say anything outside the gate and turned around to enter the county government office.
Yang Shiqi took out the suicide note of Cui Wei, the county magistrate, which was full of words of repentance, and left a lament that "I should have served the court for the rest of my life, but I wasted my life for money."
Zhu Yunwen did not expand the trend and shift the blame to Cui Wei's family. He just ordered his family to be sent away from Jurong and return to their hometown. Then he looked at the evidence of corruption by the county magistrate, the chief registrar and others, and looked at the officials who were kneeling and lying down. , and said: "Zhixian Cui has Bai Ling in his family, do you have one in your family?"
The county magistrate, the chief registrar and other officials burst into tears. Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and told them to go away. It doesn't matter if they are willing to hang themselves or jump into a well. There is really no need to keep this group of rubbish, and the dirty prison does not want to be so dirty. Dirty people.
"Open the lobby and let Mrs. Guo come in."
Zhu Yunwen gave the order, and the Yamen servant passed the message. The Guo family slowly walked into the lobby, and the onlookers also flocked to the door.
Tie Xuan took out a series of account books, all of which were found in the mine. Combining the oral statements obtained from the mine and the county government, he read out Guo's problems in the mine:
"The Guo family, Guo Hai and Guo Zhi, managed three mines, destroyed people's families, and were greedy and immoderate... The Guo family, Guo Cheng, enslaved the people, imprisoned, beat, and tortured them, killing seven people and leaving thirty-two disabled... The Guo family, Guo Xiu, oppressed the miners, deducted their wages, and insulted their families... The Guo family, Guo Yanqiong, had lax restraints, indulged the mine supervisors, whipped the mine workers, and improperly protected them, leaving seventeen people disabled..."
Guo Xu's face was ashen as he listened, Guo Yanqiong's face was also very ugly, and Guo Cheng and Guo Xiu were already trembling.
Case after case, data after data, account book after book!
After Tie Xuan read it out, he laid out a bunch of account books, and then said: "All the witnesses and material evidence are here. If you need it, the court can summon them one by one. Is there anyone who calls for injustice? If no one, then plead guilty."
Guo Xu kowtowed heavily and begged: "Your Majesty, the common people are guilty. The faults and crimes of the Guo family are all related to the old age. If you want to punish the crime, please punish me first."
Zhu Yunwen looked deeply at Guo Xu, motioned to Guo Gang to help him up, and then said: "You are old, so don't fight for them. You can't handle these things. I came to Jurong to send him off." Mrs. Guo’s, it’s unimaginable, more than one person in the Guo family wants me to see them off, so in that case, I’ll see them off first.”
