This is the horse market in the western suburbs of the capital.
There is a lot of cargo transportation here, and just like the port in Tongzhou, many people come here in their spare time to earn some money to supplement their families.
Although there are junior officials from Shuntian Prefecture managing this place, there are only three people in total. They have no ability to directly manage this large market where hundreds of caravans and tens of thousands of people move every day. And the junior officials from Shuntian Prefecture are here. Within the scope allowed by the law, some temporary workers were found to manage the passing caravans and maintain the order of the people who came to do idle work.
This tradition is very long. West Malaysia City was formed in the third year of Orthodoxy to relieve the pressure on East City and South City.
The recruitment of temporary workers for management began in the eighth year of Orthodoxy.
These temporary workers all look fierce and have never been in prison, so they are too embarrassed to apply for jobs.
In fact, there is a complete set of invisible rules in the market. A very small amount of money is taken from the caravans and the cavalry here to pay these temporary workers, but there are always some people who are just eating the thoughts in the bowl. In the pot.
There are many people who have been here for a long time, and they clearly feel the loopholes in the management of the horse market. The big caravans and the big horse teams do not dare to make any ideas, but the people who come here to work are all suffering. Everyone told me, so there are many people who receive salaries openly, but secretly pay attention to these common people.
When people came to the market and wanted to get jobs, they could not directly contact the caravans. They could only arrange with them. The money they were given was also distributed by them, so they began to play tricks in it. Of course, in this process, it was inevitable There will be people who know that the money they have earned through hard work has been tampered with, and they want to claim it, but they are beaten up...
The Ministry of Punishment re-checked the prison list, and unexpectedly found that 30% of those who had been in prison in Xicheng went to the horse market to make a living. Immediately, they sent officials to station themselves at the horse market to investigate.
After being released from prison, those who had bullied ordinary people were targeted.
Officials and government officials in the Ministry of Punishment also did not pay attention to economic crimes.
They arrested people who had beaten the common people but did not pay the price.
Officials come down, but they have tasks. If they do well, they will be excellent in the official assessment. If they do not do well, they will immediately pack up and leave to make room for those who do it.
And because of the direct access to Tianting, His Majesty the Emperor has to send people to review, and it is a crime to catch the wrong one, so the officials below are on guard every day.
I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it, and I'm afraid I'll catch the wrong one.
As for fraud, the cost is too high, and it is simply not something that a sixth- or seventh-grade official can afford. You are asking someone to be exiled to North Korea, Liaodong, etc. How much resettlement expenses do you have to pay before others are willing to help you do it?
Therefore, many officials could only do their best to obey fate, and came down in person to investigate and inquire.
The official who came to Ma City was a ninth-grade official, the Chief of the Prison Department of the Ministry of Punishment, Mr. Zhang Zhen.
It is no exaggeration to say that there are six jailers like him in the ninth grade in the Ming Dynasty, and now they are all looking for success.
After Mr. Zhang came to the West Market, he first interrogated three Shuntian Mansion officials, found some old people, and began to investigate.
In less than ten days, thirty temporary workers were arrested.
This makes Mr. Zhang very excited. He has completed the task early and exceeded the quota by so much. It seems that he can jump up next year.
These people, disguised as temporary workers, acted as bullies. Each of them had beaten ordinary people several times. After all the witnesses and physical evidence were available, Mr. Zhang led the government officials and arrested them.
In fact, there were only 13 government officials brought by Mr. Zhang this time, but there were more than 400 temporary workers. The more than 30 people arrested were all leaders, large and small, and they could talk to them. , there are dozens of brothers below, but thieves versus soldiers, before the normal order is disrupted, it is a cat catching a mouse, and no one dares to resist.
In this way, everyone in the West Market felt something was wrong, and the bullies began to become silent. They gave money to the people one by one, and did not dare to be greedy. When talking to ordinary people, they became gentle and knew that Service with a smile.
In the south of the West Market, there are dozens of small street restaurants, all open-air. These small merchants earn money from caravans and temporary workers, because ordinary people come here to work on their own. Bring dry food. I don’t dare to eat or drink at all.
Only those who feel the same can empathize. These food vendors and ordinary people are all working people. In order to let these ordinary people have a hot drink, they will also prepare several large vats of hot water in front of the shop. Water is provided free of charge to the working people.
"Why aren't the noodles ready yet? How long have we been here?" A fat man with big ears shouted to the skinny old man who was busy.
The skinny old man looked back at the man and hurriedly said with a smile on his face: "It'll be fine soon, it'll be fine soon, please wait a moment."
"Hmph, if you don't hurry up, I'll knock your whole mess down..." This fat man was expressing his dissatisfaction unscrupulously.
Another man sitting at a table with a scar on his forehead was startled after hearing what he said. He quickly whispered: "You can't fucking speak well, your voice is so loud." You can't be louder, don't you know, our former eldest brother was arrested when he spoke a little louder while eating."
This fat man with big ears should be a little afraid of the scarred man. After listening to the scarred man's scolding, he quickly smiled and said: "Brother Dog, you are too careful. Ex-eldest brother, isn't this offending someone? We I haven’t offended any official, so everything will be fine.”
"The officials and servants are all here now. Be careful what you say and don't cause trouble for me."
"It's Brother Gou. I must pay attention. But Brother Gou, you are different from the previous eldest brother. You are a hero. You have killed the Mongols. You have shed blood and been injured for our Ming Dynasty. Even if you have done something ugly, As long as you tell your story in court, the official will definitely let you go." The fat man said quickly.
After listening to what the fat man said, the scarred man sighed. Just as the fat man said, he followed the big brother in front of him, but he did a lot of things that were not worthy of publicity.
The reason why the man with the scar can eat this bowl of rice is because the scar on his forehead is hideous and ugly.
The scar on my forehead is actually from holding the hatchet upside down when I went up the mountain to cut firewood, and I accidentally hurt myself...
Before there was a scar, he was an honest farmer, cutting some firewood during the off-season. But since he had a scar on his head, he found that many people were afraid of him, so he immediately thought of trying his luck in the market. ,change destiny.
He came to the Western Market and packaged his scar, saying that it was the scar left after he fought with the invading Mongols and killed four or five Mongols in the 14th year of Orthodoxy.
It was by relying on this rhetoric that he successfully joined a very powerful gang in the market and quickly became the second in command of the gang.
People gave him the nickname, Scar Mad Dog.
Moreover, the scarred mad dog has a very famous name in the market. He has been in the market for fourteen years and has beaten more than a hundred people. He has also made enough money because his foundation is very clean, so In the first wave of screening by Mr. Zhang, he was not found.
While the two were talking, the skinny old man came to the table with a plate and placed bowls of noodles on the table. He raised his head and saw an official in green robes and four government officials with knives behind him.
"Master Guan, do you want some noodles?"
After hearing this, the scarred man slowly turned around and saw the official. He quickly turned around, pretending to be nonchalant, picked up the hot noodles and started eating.
"Brother Dog, is it hot or not? Don't eat it so fast, Brother Dog." The fat man said quickly.
However, the scarred man was not interested in talking and only focused on eating noodles.
The official who came was none other than Mr. Zhang Zhen, the warden. He smiled and said, "Old man, if you don't want to eat noodles, you need to find someone."
The skinny old man glanced at the fat man, then at the scarred man, nodded, and then hurriedly left.
Mr. Zhang came to the table and sat down.
The surrounding diners and the people who came to drink water all looked at this table...
"Master Guan, you're here to eat noodles too." The fat man said with a smile. He was also a brainless person. He didn't notice anything strange about Mr. Zhang's arrival and his eldest brother's anomaly.
Mr. Zhang is a middle-aged man. He often goes out on official business. He has dark skin but bright eyes. When he first sat down, he looked at the scarred man eating noodles. After hearing the fat man's words, he turned his head. , looked at the fat man, nodded and said: "If you don't want noodles, look for someone."
"Are you looking for my dog brother..." the fat man said quickly.
"Yes." Mr. Zhang nodded, and then looked at the scarred man eating noodles: "Wang Ergou, don't eat. There are no noodles. What are you still doing?"
After hearing this, the scarred man put the bowl on the table. He looked at Mr. Zhang, and after a long time he said in a pleading tone: "Sir, I had no choice before, but now I just want to be a good person... …”
Biquge
