Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 37

Regardless of the province, state, or county, except for the size, the rules and regulations of the cells are the same.Passages, iron fences, stone walls, and the exits of the passages into the cells all have value rooms.Now the value of the prison in Chun'an County has been upgraded, and it has become Hai Rui's temporary office.

There were soldiers standing outside the door, but Hai Rui would not let them in at all. The guards inside were guards from Chun'an County, all of whom were holding knives at the door.Hai Rui sat alone in front of the temporary case, flipping through the books and files left by his predecessor.

Two servants brought in two buckets and a basket of bowls and chopsticks, bringing in the prison meals.

"Grandfather." The guard put down the bucket and turned to Hai Rui, "It's time to serve the prisoners."

Hai Rui looked at the two buckets: "We'll divide them here."

The two servants glanced at each other, one took the bowl, the other scooped up the rice, and a dozen bowls of rice were quickly distributed.The two servants piled bowls of rice into the bucket.

"Wait a minute." Hai Rui called to stop them, "Take a bite of each bowl."

The two guards were stunned: "Master, this is prison food."

Hai Rui: "Take a bite out of every bowl."

The two servants had no choice but to pick up the chopsticks, hesitated for a while before picking up a bowl each, picked up a ball of rice and sent it to their mouths.As soon as the meal entered their mouths, the faces of both of them turned bitter.

As the saying goes, "Don't break the law as a human being, it is not a human being to break the law."As a rule, the prisons of any dynasty were allocated prison food by the official warehouse.The prison head and jailer never give the prisoners good rice from the official storehouse to eat. They sell it and then buy old moldy rice. stone.How can I eat this rice?When I met such a grand venerable, I asked the guard who delivered the prison meal to taste it first.The two cursed in their hearts, but they dared not stop eating.

One person tasted six mouthfuls, and tasted all twelve bowls.Only then did Hai Rui say: "Tell everyone, don't put poison in the food. If you kill a person by poisoning, the cooks and deliverers will eat the food themselves."

Two guards: "I dare not."

Hai Rui: "Send it in."

Only then did the two put the bowls into the bucket again, and carrying the bucket, they walked towards the aisle.

There is another bitter person who also came in at this time, that is Tian Youlu.

Hai Rui looked up at him.

Tian Youlu sat down on the chair opposite to his big case, wiped his sweat: "Tang Zun, I just missed kneeling, and the humble official only borrowed two days' relief food."

Hai Rui: "Is it all distributed?"

Tian Youlu: "It's being distributed."

Hai Rui stopped looking at him, and looked down at the account book: "Then borrow it again. I said three days, and there is still one day left."

"Tang Zun, I can no longer borrow a lowly position." Tian Youlu seemed determined to come, and his tone was somewhat stubborn, "Which one should you bear, the Tang Zun will watch and punish."

Hai Rui still lowered his head: "I don't care about any of them. When this matter is over, I will only ask you one thing, how did the Xin'an River Levee breach in Chun'an."

Tian Youlu's face suddenly changed: "Tang Zun, the former county magistrate has been beheaded, you can't put this on the humble official."

Hai Rui: "Borrow food."

Tian Youlu had no choice but to stand up: "Master Tang, dripping water from the eaves will take over from generation to generation. The new official is not the account of the old official. You will also be responsible for the old one..."

Hai Rui's eyes fixed on him: "I don't have a son, and I don't plan to leave Chun'an alive! Borrow food!"

"Okay, okay. I'll borrow the humble job." Tian Youlu walked out for a while, sweating and turned back, stepped into the threshold of the guard room and shouted: "Here we come! His Excellency, finally here!"

Hai Rui: "What's coming?"

Tian Youlu: "Grain ship! Jiangnan Weaving Bureau bought Tian's grain ship!"

Hai Rui was startled: "Where's the grain ship?"

Tian Youlu: "The grain ship of the Weaving Bureau."

Hai Rui stood up suddenly: "Do you understand?"

Tian Youlu: "The officers came to report and said they could see clearly. There were lanterns from the Weaving Bureau hanging on the masts of every ship. Their people were also led to wait in the county government office."

Hai Rui: "You go to the reception and ask in person if it is the grain ship of the Weaving Bureau."

Tian Youlu: "There are lanterns hanging on all the boats, and they must belong to the Weaving Bureau."

Hai Rui's eyes sparkled: "You should go and implement it yourself, they really are buying fields under the brand name of Weaving Bureau!"

Tian Youlu couldn't understand Hai Rui's meaning, and he immediately flattered him, "What Tang Zun said is that the palace is here to buy the fields, so we can relieve our burdens no matter what we do."

Hai Rui looked sideways at him.

Tian Youlu: "Tang Zun, is it wrong to say that you are humble?"

Hai Rui: "You're right. Tell them when you've made it clear and ask their grain ship to wait at the pier first, and I'll go see them."

"Yes!" Tian Youlu gained confidence when he answered for the first time, and then turned to Hai Rui: "Tang Zun, can I repay the three days' food from the big family in this county if I borrow it tomorrow?"

"Those big households are calling back?" Hai Rui stared at him again.

"That, that's not yet." Tian Youlu stammered again.

Hai Rui stopped paying attention to him, narrowed his gaze, and began to think sharply there.

Tian Youlu had no choice but to take his steps lightly and walked out again.

The sails on each ship have been lowered, and the lanterns of the Weaving Bureau are still hanging on the mast. The bow of the back ship bites the stern of the front ship, and the mast is like a forest.

Except for Shen Yishi's big boat which was close to the pier, the grain boats of the brigade were all four zhang away from the shore.On the ground in a disaster year, the defense is to prevent the hungry from robbing food.Therefore, the coastline is full of soldiers.

Shen Yishi changed his clothes again at this time.Since he worked for the Weaving Bureau for many years, Yang Jinshui asked Gong Lien for a set of six-rank crown belts for him. Unlike the officials appointed by the Ministry of Officials, there were no wings on the gauze cap and no patch on the robe, but once worn In fact, in the eyes of the common people, it is an official family, and in the eyes of the officialdom, it is a person in the palace.Shen Yishi was usually busy with his affairs and had a low-key manner. He had never worn this set of robes from the weaving bureau. When he put them on today, the people around him were a little surprised: the master turned out to be an official!
At this time, a chair was placed on the bow of the big ship, and Shen Yishi sat quietly on the chair.The shore was already full of disaster victims and people, blocked by soldiers, all staring at Shen Yishi at the bow with hungry eyes.

The steward was guarded by four soldiers, and came galloping from the north gate of Chun'an City.When they arrived at the pier, the steward got off his horse, immediately stepped onto the diving board, and walked towards Shen Yishi.

The steward walked to his side and said in a low voice, "My lord, I went to confirm that the Japanese pirates and Japanese criminals caught by the yamen were indeed not executed, and they are all locked up in prison now. The new Haizhi county said It is to wait for the governor’s yamen, the inspector’s yamen and the bureau’s yamen to retry the case.”

Shen Yishi looked at the flowing water on the river in the distance: "What else did that Haizhi County say?"

The steward said, "I didn't see Haizhi County, but Chun'an's county magistrate told me that the Haizhi County would come to see the master..."

Shen Yishi looked at him slowly: "The relief food should be gone today, are they not in a hurry?"

The steward said, "It seems that they borrowed relief food for another three days from the big households in this county."

Shen Yishi pondered: "I really want to meet this Haizhi County."

The steward: "Small one, are you urging him to come here?"

Shen Yishi: "No need to urge. He can't come either."

The steward was taken aback.

Shen Yishi: "You bring a few people back to the city, watch at the county government office, and report to me immediately if you have anything to do."

"Yes." The steward immediately walked to the springboard again.

"Come here." Shen Yishi stood up.

Two attendants came over immediately: "Master."

Shen Yishi took off the gauze cap on his head, and a follower quickly took it with both hands.

"Waiting to change clothes." Shen Yishi walked towards the cabin with his hair bare.

Two attendants, one holding a gauze cap, the other followed behind with his hands down.Seen from the back, the old man really felt uncomfortable wearing that sixth-rank official uniform.Neither the heaviness of the usual Ge linen clothes, nor the elegance of cicada-wing silk all the way.

Shen Yishi was right, Hai Rui couldn't leave here right now.The execution stopped two days ago, so he had only one way to go, and that was to wait.He didn't know what the result was.Will Zheng Michang and He Maocai come?If they didn't come, what orders did Jiang Qianhu bring?Do not know at all.His only hope is the route sent to Suzhou to deliver the urgent report. If the urgent report can be delivered to Hu Zongxian, with Tan Lun by his side, he will definitely come.But Suzhou is farther than Hangzhou, and Hu Zongxian is on the way. If he misses it, he doesn't know when the urgent report will reach Hu Zongxian and let Tan Lun know.When he came, there was only one day's relief food left, so Tian Youlu was forced to borrow three days' relief food, which could last four days.In the four days, the grain ship to buy the fields will definitely arrive, and the remaining move is to use this unjust prison to prevent them from buying the fields.Then keep the grain from the purchased fields, borrow it in the name of the Chun'an County Government, and then lend it to the victims, so that the rice seedlings can be planted in June and July, and one season of rice can be harvested in September and October.At that time, if the victims of the disaster are asked to pay back the grain, the land annexation will come to an end without a problem.Of course, this was just Hai Rui's wishful thinking.If you do this by yourself, the above is destined not to agree.Then try to go to jail and kill yourself, this matter will also be reported to the court, and the court situation will change.As long as the court's strategy of changing rice into mulberry can be changed, it can be regarded as fulfilling the promise that Tan Lun asked himself to come out on behalf of those above him!
Hearing that the grain ship had come to buy fields under the brand of the Weaving Bureau just now, Hai Rui was keenly aware of the turning point!According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, vassal kings from all over the country had imperial lands, and the palace also had Huangzhuang to support the emperor.If the palace expenses are too large, the Ministry of Households will allocate funds from the national treasury as usual. The so-called emperor is rich all over the world. According to the emperor, the family is the country, and the country is the family. There is never a shortage of expenses. reason.Such openly using the brand of the Weaving Bureau, that is, using the brand of the palace to buy fields, obviously violated the ancestral system and committed a big taboo.Why this is so, he does not know.But it is already certain that Zheng Michang and He Maocai dare not come, and the government offices at all levels in Zhejiang will avoid them from a distance, not daring to come to this muddy water.You can detain all the grain ships in the name of "defaming the holy name"!What is suffering right now is that he has no one under him, no soldiers, and cannot leave the prison for half a step.If these criminals are killed and silenced, the situation will deteriorate dramatically.The consequences could be disastrous.

It's time to light up the lamps again, and the two servants who delivered the food yesterday came to light the lamps.Instead, the two of them brought a candle lamp with a gauze cover to Hai Rui and put it on the table.Then two small oil lamps were hung on the walls on both sides of the passage leading to the cell.After igniting, the light is only the size of a bean, but the passageway looks even darker.

"Why are there only two small lamps?" Hai Rui said suddenly, "Same as yesterday, every cell door is lit with big lamps."

An officer: "Master, there is a ration of oil in the cell. For the lamps lit last night, the younger ones brought oil from home."

"What month is it?" Hai Rui asked.

Officer: "Back to Taizun, it's June."

Hai Rui: "Even if there is a ration of lamp oil in the cell, it won't be possible to finish lighting up all the oil for this year?"

Officer: "The grand lord doesn't know something. Lamp oil is collected every day."

Hai Rui: "Where can I get it?"

Officer: "The cell boss will get you."

Hai Rui: "Yes, why didn't the cell boss come?"

Officer: "Back to Taizun, it's been two days and two nights, and he's also tired. He said he wanted to take a rest."

Hai Rui: "Call the cell boss."

Guard: "Yes."

Laotou Wang and Tian Youlu were both in the signing room of the county government at this time. After hearing Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu who came from Hangzhou explain why they were asked to participate in the killing and extermination, they were stunned with a bang, and looked at each other. He said no, and froze there.

Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu looked at each other, and then fixed their eyes on them.

After a long time, Tian Youlu's eyeballs moved, and he looked at Jiang and Xu: "That's right. Haizhi County has sent someone to notify the boat of the Weaving Bureau, and told me to go see them first. The people from the Weaving Bureau are still waiting for me." I have to go right away." Without waiting for their consent, he walked towards the door.

Jiang and Xu didn't stop him, they just watched him walk towards the door.

Tian Youlu was beating a drum in his heart, and when he reached the door, he felt that he had stepped out of the gate of hell, and when he stepped over the threshold, he took a very big step.But as soon as the front foot stepped out, the back foot was still in the door, and it stayed there.

Two knives were facing him with glowing light at the door!Two soldiers shouted at him in a low voice: "Go back!"

Only then did Tian Youlu realize that the courtyard was full of soldiers from the yamen.

"What, how do you say this?" Tian Youlu's voice trembled, but he was still standing on the threshold in that posture, refusing to go back.

Suddenly someone slapped on the shoulder again, Tian Youlu trembled, turned his head hastily, and retracted the leg he stepped out.

"I have been an eighth-rank official for several years, why are you so careless?" It was Jiang Qianhu who stood behind him, with a gentle face, but bright eyes.

Tian Youlu trembled again: "Hi, Humble I really want to see the people from the Weaving Bureau."

Jiang Qianhu: "I've told you about the killing and silencing, so you want to get out of this threshold like this?"

Tian Youlu's legs softened and he knelt down: "You two generals, there are seniors and juniors in humble positions. It's not for other reasons, but for the sake of my family. I can't even do it..."

"Whispering!" Xu Qianhu was angry, "Sign your name on this paper first."

Tian Yoululai was there: "Master Xu, the humble job is only an eighth grade. For such a big matter, there are not many of me, and there are many without me. You always raise your hand and don't let me get involved."

"Do you want to sign or not!" Xu Qianhu slapped the table with his palm.

Tian Youlu was shocked.The cell leader standing by the table was also startled.

Xu Qianhu: "Both sign."

The cell boss: "My lord, the younger one can't read..."

Jiang Qianhu smiled: "Who will sign for you when you go to the yamen to collect money and things every day? It's okay if you don't want to sign, then we have to do it with you two here first. Come!"

Two soldiers came in holding their knives.

The prison boss: "I sign, I sign..." He picked up the pen on the table, but his hand kept shaking, and he really changed the posture of holding the pen like an illiterate person, holding the pen holder on the Fist heart, this is not too trembling, just write his name on the paper, but the writing is much bigger.

Xu Qianhu looked at Tian Youlu: "It's your turn."

Tian Youlu got up, walked slowly to the table, took the pen from the cell boss, and often wrote, his hands didn't tremble, but his legs were a little uncomfortable, trembling underneath, and his body kept moving shaking.

Jiang Qianhu became impatient: "Sit down."

Tian Youlu sat down, looked at the paper and suddenly felt hopeful again, so he looked up at Xu and Jiang: "No, there is no room..."

Xu and Jiang looked at the paper, and it turned out that the blank space below was filled with the three big names of the cell boss.The two couldn't help but glanced at the prison head.

The jailer lowered his head: "The younger one said that he is not very literate..."

Jiang Qianhu turned to Tian Youlu: "Sign your name on it."

Tian Youlu: "There is no signature on it..."

"Write!" Xu Qianhu slapped the table again.

Tian Youlu had no choice but to write his name in the blank space above the paper.

Headlights were added and replaced in the cell passages, and they became much brighter immediately.

Tian Youlu was in front, and the prison chief was behind. The two appeared at the door of the duty room, but they still stopped there, staring absently at Hai Rui who was sitting in front of the big case.

Hai Rui sat upright with his eyes slightly closed.

Tian Youlu and the cell boss still refused to cross the threshold, apparently something poked their backs, both of them trembled, so they had no choice but to walk in.Four soldiers followed them in.

Hai Rui opened his eyes. Tian Youlu and the prison chief had already walked to the front of the big case, and four soldiers also walked into the guard room, standing closely behind them.

How vigilant Hai Rui was, he immediately saw something strange from the expressions of the group of people.

Tian Youlu looked at him, wanted to laugh, but couldn't; the prison chief just lowered his head; the four soldiers all stared forward without any expression.

Hai Rui: "What's the matter?"

Tian Youlu lowered his eyes: "Tang, Tang Zun, the Weaving Bureau has sent someone to urge you. Please, please Tang Zun go to the pier immediately."

Hai Rui looked closely at Tian Youlu: "Where are the people from the Weaving Bureau?"

Tian Youlu: "At, at the pier, on the boat."

Hai Rui: "Didn't you say you sent someone to remind me? Where is the person who came to remind me?"

Tian Youlu was taken aback for a moment: "I'm, I'm waiting in the county government office..."

Hai Rui: "Since they are here to urge me, why don't you bring them to see me?"

(End of this chapter)