Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 89

"Wait for the result."

Tan Lun said calmly.

"It's really unreasonable!" This time, it was Wang Yongji who couldn't bear it anymore, and took the case, "Not only did he say that the embankment was not destroyed and the fields were flooded, but also that you didn't know that the embankment collapsed because of corruption. At that time, a chief envoy, As an envoy, can you justify it?"

"At that time, Hu Butang was still the governor of Zhejiang, didn't he know about it?" Zheng Michang was very stubborn at this time, "This case has been concluded long ago, and it was done by Ma Ningyuan, the prefect of Hangzhou, and Li Xuan, the river supervisor, together with several county magistrates. The two imperial officials can go to the original case file to read."

Wang Yongji, who has always been gentle, was trembling with anger at this moment: "Where is Shishiro Inoue? He has been imprisoned in the prison of the Nisi Yamen, so why can he go to Chun'an to sell grain and rice! He Maocai, you are in charge of the Nisi Yamen Yes, don't you know?"

He Maocai: "Japanese pirates robbing prisons happen from time to time, why didn't Mr. Wang go and ask if it was Qi Dazhu, a trickster from Chun'an, who did it."

Zheng Michang answered immediately: "Please ask the two imperial officials to record what we said just now."

Wang Yongji was suffocated in anger.

Hai Rui was very calm, looking at Wang Yongji: "They are right, all the confessions made by the criminals should be recorded one by one. County magistrate, please record it."

Wang Yongji looked at Hai Rui puzzled.

Hai Rui's eyes gave him a signal that "it's okay to forget it for now".

Wang Yongji sat down slowly, his breath was still there while recording, and his hands were still trembling slightly.

He Maocai felt very relieved at this time, and couldn't help looking at Zheng Michang.

Zheng Michang showed suspicion, and looked at Hai Rui who shouldn't be so calm.

He Maocai was also a little suspicious, and turned his gaze to Hai Rui.

Seeing Wang Yongji stop writing, Hai Rui asked, "Have you finished recording?"

Wang Yongji: "It's over."

Hai Rui immediately looked at Zheng Michang and He Maocai: "Let's bet."

Zheng Michang and He Maocai hardly believed their ears, and became even more suspicious. They glanced at each other, and then both looked at Hai Rui.

Zheng Michang: "Is this a bet?"

Hai Rui: "Yes. Please make a bet."

"I'll draw." He Maocai didn't think about it any more, walked to Wang Yongji's case, picked up a pen and started to draw.

"Wait a minute. Read the confession first." Zheng Michang was still in doubt, so he reminded immediately.

He Maocai was reminded, put down his pen, picked up the confession and read it carefully.

Wang Yongji suppressed his anger and said to Zheng Michang: "Do you want to see yours too?"

Zheng Bichang: "Of course I have to read it." Then he walked over, picked up the piece of paper on which his confession was recorded, and read it carefully.

After the two of them had finished reading, they couldn't help looking at each other again. The confession was word for word!
Only then did Zheng Bichang say: "Let's draw a bet."

The two picked up the pens at the same time, and drew notes on their respective confessions.When he put down his pen, this time it was Zheng Michang who turned around and gave Hai Rui a deep bow: "Thanks to the official mirror!"

He Maocai followed suit and bowed deeply to Hai Rui: "The imperial officials are so observant, and the guards are convinced."

"Whether it's a mirror or a clear inspection, it's too early to tell." Hai Rui looked at the faces of the two giant beetles, and his tone suddenly became serious, "Come on!"

Several prisoners came in.

Hai Rui: "Take them to the recording room next door and let them listen carefully."

"Yes." A jailer replied, and immediately pushed open the door on the side of the interrogation room.

Several prisoners looked at Zheng Michang and He Maocai: "Let's go."

Zheng and He immediately became apprehensive again, and were escorted through the door by several prison guards.

The door immediately closed on the next door.

Wang Yongji seemed to understand something, and looked at Hai Rui.

Hai Rui nodded to him, and turned to the outside of the prison door: "Take Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu!"

Hai Rui's voice came clearly from the next room, and Zheng Michang and He Maocai were shocked when they heard it!
Surprised, the two prison guards tore off their belts at the same time.

He Maocai: "What are you doing? What do you want to do?"

The jailer who untied his belt said, "I am ordered to keep the two adults silent for now." Then he wrapped the belt around his mouth and prepared to tie a knot behind his head.

He Maocai had a thick neck, he swung his head desperately, and threw the jailer away, and the belt fell to the ground.

He Maocai: "Damn! I still..."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, they were cut off, and a round wooden stick with thick ropes on both ends was strangled in his mouth!
In the official system of the Ming Dynasty, the bosses at all levels of the yamen committed crimes on duty, and the subordinates involved in the case, such as officials, officials, officials, officials, and servants, who were ordered to execute, were not implicated. The reason.If such people want to be implicated, they don't know how many of them are there. This is also the so-called "law does not blame the public".This is why the embankment breached and beheaded Ma Ningyuan, Li Xuan, Chang Boxi, and Zhang Zhiliang but did not pursue the soldiers guarding the embankment, even the county magistrates such as Tian Youlu.

Zheng Michang and He Maocai have been in charge of the department in Zhejiang for many years. They were arrested after the ink corruption case occurred.But this time Hai Rui had to implicate Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu, of course, because the two were not just ordered to run errands, but to help the tyrant.If Zheng and He retract their confessions, ironclad evidence must be found from these two people.

Therefore, they were not shackled. Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu were escorted in with hemp ropes.

The prison guards were rude to these two men, and kicked them at the crook of their legs as soon as they were escorted into the room, and they immediately fell to their knees.

"Ask you two things, and answer them truthfully." Hai Rui looked at the two of them.

Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu kept their mouths tightly shut and only looked at Hai Rui.

Hai Rui: "In May of this year, the Xin'an River flooded. In which county are you guarding the gate with your troops?"

Wang Yongji immediately picked up the pen.

"Master Huihai, the younger ones are the Qianhu of the standard yamen, and guarding the embankment is the business of the Hedao Yamen. How can the younger ones go?" Of course, Jiang Qianhu knew the rule that public crimes should not implicate his subordinates, so he simply Deny it from the root.

Hai Rui was not angry either: "Where were you that night?"

This time Xu Qianhu replied: "Of course I sleep at home."

Hai Rui picked up a stack of official documents with testimonies written on them and many people's names densely signed: "This is the testimony of your subordinate soldiers, with more than 200 signatures, saying that Jiang Qianhu brought a hundred soldiers to demolish the The levee gate in Chun’an, Xu Qianhu brought a hundred soldiers to demolish the levee gate in Jiande. See for yourself!”

The two secretariats each took a piece of testimony and showed it to Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu.

Jiang and Xu's expressions immediately changed, and they were stunned.

Hai Rui: "Xu Qianhu, did you still say you slept at home that night?"

Xu Qianhu gritted his teeth: "The villain's memory is wrong. The villain was indeed ordered to go to the Jiande embankment that night. It was not to demolish the gate, but to protect the dam."

Hai Rui looked at Jiang Qianhu again: "You must be saying the same thing?"

Jiang Qianhu: "That's right, the younger one did go to Chun'an that night, also to protect the dam."

Hai Rui: "You don't need to recruit. With the testimony of these 200 people, I don't need your testimony. File the testimony."

The book office immediately sent the testimony to Wang Yongji, and Wang Yongji took it and put it in the folder.

"The second thing." Hai Rui's expression became more severe, "You have ordered the Japanese pirate Inoue Shishiro to be imprisoned all this time. How did he release him? How could he go to Chun'an to lure the victims as soon as he was released? That day He Maocai He was taken away from Chun'an, and you led the soldiers to escort him, but now this person has disappeared. Didn't you say that when the Japanese pirates were released twice, you all slept at home?"

Wang Yongji recorded quickly.

Xu Qianhu lowered his head tightly, gritted his teeth and did not answer.

Jiang Qianhu looked at Hai Rui: "Japanese pirates are all over Zhejiang, and many smugglers and rebels colluded with them. That Inoue Shishiro was rescued by Qi Dazhu and his gang from rebelling against the people. Mr. Hai didn't kill them at that time, but later let them in I ran away halfway. Now Master Hai is going to pursue us, and we have nothing to say."

——This kind of villainous slave is even more vicious than the master, Wang Yongji stood up suddenly.

Hai Rui immediately stopped him, stared at Jiang Qianhu, then at Xu Qianhu, and slowly smiled: "That's why you are planning to set fire to me and the Japanese pirates in Chun'an Prison?"

Jiang and Xu immediately met their eyes, and immediately denied: "When did the little ones let it go?"

Hai Rui looked at them still smiling, and nodded lightly: "Of course the fire wasn't set off, otherwise I wouldn't be able to sit here and interrogate you now. Witnesses please!"

All the people looked towards the prison door, and Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu also turned their heads and looked secretly.

It was Tian Youlu and prison boss Wang who came in!

The faces of Jiang and Xu changed a little.

After Tian Youlu and Wang Laotou came in, they immediately saluted Hai Rui and Wang Yongji: "I've seen Master Hai, I've seen Master Wang."

Hai Ruiwen said: "Because I'm testifying, I won't set up seats for you."

Tian Youlu immediately said: "I will ignore this rule, and I will stand and testify."

Wang Laotou's voice was still very loud: "Don't hesitate to ask the elder, the villain will definitely say a word, and there will be no half-truth."

"Okay. Then you will testify according to the facts." Hai Rui said, looking at Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu, "Do you know these two people?"

Jiang and Xu looked at each other quickly, and Jiang Qianhu answered first, "Something looks familiar, but I can't remember it."

Hai Rui stared at Xu Qianhu: "What about you?"

Xu Qianhu: "The young ones are working in the office of the Ministry of Education. There are so many people in the whole province, so you can remember them everywhere."

Hai Rui turned to Tian Youlu and prison head Wang: "They said they couldn't remember you, do you still remember them?"

As the county magistrate, Tian Youlu had tried countless criminals. Usually, if he encountered such criminals in the county office, he would have cast lots and beat them, but now he had no such power. He was half official and half for himself, and he was not completely angry. It was just pretending, stomping his feet and shouting loudly: "Shameless You! Shameless You! My lord, if you are so cunning, you will not be punished!"

Hai Rui only nodded his head, but he didn't draw the sign to execute the sentence, but turned his gaze to the head of prison Wang.

That prison boss Wang has been doing the business of beating people all his life, seeing Hai Rui looking at him, he thought he was being asked to beat people, and he was already angry and wanted to show loyalty, so he immediately ran over and grabbed him. Xu Qianhu raised his chest: "You bastard bastard! At that time, I put a knife on my neck and told me to set fire. I said I couldn't write and you forced me to sign it. Now you say you don't know me. Already?" After finishing speaking, the boss slapped him with a slap!
This palm slapped so crisply that Xu Qianhu's left face immediately became red and swollen. He only saw countless stars flashing in front of him. It took him a while to recover, and those eyes immediately looked fiercely at Wang Lao. head.

Wang Lao opened his eyes wider than him: "Can't you remember?" He said and slapped him hard again.

With this slap, Xu Qianhu couldn't even see the stars, and the sky was completely dark.

Jiang Qianhu immediately yelled: "We want to see Zhao Zhongcheng! We want to see Mr. Tan!"

Wang Yongji was originally angry, but now he felt something was wrong, and looked at Hai Rui.

Hai Rui sat there motionless.

At this time, prison head Wang became even more excited, let go of Xu Qianhu, and turned to Jiang Qianhu, but he didn't know what to say, and started talking nonsense: "See Zhao Zhongcheng? See Mr. Tan? Zhao Zhongcheng and Mr. Tan were also sent by Prince Yu, no Helping us Master Hai will help you? The guy who can't wake up from his dream!" After speaking, he immediately slapped him with his palm.

Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu were originally military officers, but Xu Qianhu was slapped twice only because he was caught by the collar of the jailer Wang and could not dodge.This time, because Wang Laotou didn't grab Jiang Qianhu's lapel, he swung it away with a flash of his palm, and fell forward instead.Jiang Qianhu was also ruthless, and when he saw him fall, he immediately hit his head on his abdomen. Wang Lao's head was hit by this head on the abdominal cavity below the ribs, and he was out of breath for a while, holding his stomach and squatting slowly Go down, the tone can't come up, and the face is already pale.

"Help him away." Hai Rui had no choice but to speak.

A book office hurried over and helped Wang Laotou. Wang Laotou's tone slowed down, and he immediately raised his leg to kick Jiang Qianhu again.

"Don't mess around!" Hai Rui stopped him, "Stand aside first."

Prisoner Wang spat at Jiang Qianhu bitterly, and was then helped to stand aside.

Hai Rui picked up the paper on the case signed by both prison boss Wang and Tian Youlu, and said to Tian Youlu and prison boss Wang, "Come and see if it's this paper they forced you to set fire to the prison."

Tian Youlu and Wang Laotou both approached, took a look and immediately said: "Back to the Elder, it is this document."

Hai Rui: "Cheng Tian, ​​show it to them."

"Yes." Tian Youlu immediately picked up the paper and walked up to Jiang Qianhu and stretched it out, "Keep your dog eyes wide open and look carefully."

As soon as Jiang Qianhu saw this written evidence, he immediately knew that nothing could be denied, but he still didn't speak, but stared at Xu Qianhu fiercely.

Hai Rui saw it in his eyes: "You are blaming him for not keeping this document, right? Let me tell you for him that this document was seized by the personal soldiers of the governor's yamen at that time. If you don't confess, Hu Butang can directly Report this matter to the court."

At this time, Wang Yongji's eyebrows were stretched, and he kept waving his pen.

Hai Rui stopped chattering with them, and slapped the gavel: "Did you let the Japanese leader Inoue Shishiro go twice, did you do it yourself, or did you follow orders? crimes, public crimes go unpunished.”

Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu were about to look at each other again.

"Look at me!" Hai Rui stopped them immediately, "Jiang Qianhu answers first."

Jiang Qianhu lowered his head: "This subordinate is following orders."

Wang Yongji recorded it immediately.

Hai Rui immediately looked at Xu Qianhu: "What about you?"

Xu Qianhu also lowered his head: "The subordinates are also following orders."

Hai Rui: "Whose order? What to do? Xu Qianhu answered."

Then Xu Qianhu: "This subordinate released Inoue Shishiro under the order of Mr. He, the patrol envoy."

Hai Rui: "Why? Jiang Qianhu answered."

Then Jiang Qianhu: "It's all because the victims of the disaster in Chun'an are unwilling to sell their fields. Mr. He wants to accuse them of being a gangster and kill them as an example."

Wang Yongji finished this sentence with his notebook, let out a long breath, and looked towards Hai Rui.

Hai Rui looked at him knowingly for a moment.

Hai Rui: "Master Wang, can we let them take the pledge?"

Wang Yongji: "I think it's time to draw and bet."

Hai Rui: "Loosen the ties and let them draw a bond."

In the interrogation room at this time there was only the book office and no prison guards, but prison head Wang had quick eyes, and immediately rushed to Jiang Qianhu's back to untie him.

A book office picked up the confession from Wang Yongji's case, picked up a pen, walked up to Jiang Qianhu first, put the confession on the ground in front of him, and asked him to draw it.

Binding people and loosening the ropes is all work. Prison chief Wang only loosened the ropes on Jiang Qianhu's right hand, and still grabbed his left hand with the ropes to prevent the prisoners from tearing up the confession.Jiang Qianhu had no choice but to take the pen with one hand, and was dragged by prison head Wang to draw on the confession that was placed on the ground by the book office.

The secretary bent down again and moved the confession to the ground in front of Xu Qianhu.

The head of prison Wang was about to tie up Jiang Qianhu again, Hai Rui: "No need. Ask Xu Qianhu to be a prisoner."

"Yes." Wang Laotou answered loudly, followed Xu Qianhu's right hand by drawing a gourd, and dragged him to bend down to the ground to draw a bet.

The secretary immediately returned the confession to Wang Yongji.

Hai Rui stood up: "Put Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu under custody first."

This time Prison Leader Wang was about to continue working, when several prisoners rushed in and escorted Jiang and Xu out.

Only then did Hai Rui look at Tian Youlu and Wang Laotou: "Tian County Prime Minister."

Tian Youlu immediately replied: "The subordinate is here."

Hai Rui: "I was ordered to run an errand, and you have to rush back to work on the Chun'an matter, so you can't rest anymore, so go back to the county."

Tian Youlu: "Your subordinate will rush back overnight." He responded with a deep bow to Hai Rui, and then to Wang Yongji.

Wang Laotou followed and kowtowed to Hai Rui, then turned around and kowtowed to Wang Yongji.

Tian Youlu: "Let's go." Taking prisoner Wang back two steps, he turned and walked out of the interrogation room.

Hai Rui picked up the leather envelope on the desk, put the original confession sent back by the Cabinet Secretary into it, then walked to Wang Yongji's desk, and looked at him.

Wang Yongji understood, folded up the retracted confessions of Zheng Michang and He Maocai, the confessions of Jiang Qianhu and Xu Qianhu, and the note signed by the head of the cell, Tian Youlu, and handed them to Hai Rui.

Hai Rui put the confession and documents in an official envelope, and turned to a book office: "Baking paint."

(End of this chapter)