Song Yi

Chapter 362
Du Wenhao left the window and went downstairs.Asked Lin Qingdai beside her: "Sister Qingdai, what do you think should be done next?"

Lin Qingdai smiled and said: "I don't know how to be an official, but I remember my father used to manage the business, and the guy did something wrong. My father scolded him very severely, but he was sympathetic in the punishment. He said it was called thunder." The rain is heavy and the rain is small, so that the buddy knows how powerful it is, but he is grateful. I think being an official is a bit like managing a business. You must put on airs so that he will be in awe. At the same time, the punishment should be lighter and not hurt too much. Face, let him feel grateful."

Du Wenhao nodded frequently: "It's very reasonable to have both kindness and power. He also said that you don't know how to be an official. I'm afraid you are very good at being an official."

Lin Qingdai smiled embarrassedly and said, "I came up with random ideas, so it doesn't affect you."

"I think your idea is very good, those thugs, and that Meier, how to deal with it?"

"It's best not to deal with it directly, let him make up his mind to report to you for approval, and see his attitude. I'm afraid his handling will not be light."

"That is, now is the time to lose the car and protect the handsome man. If he is not black-hearted, he will not be able to achieve the position of Zhizhou."

"Just don't overdo it."

The two went downstairs to the yard.Du Wenhao walked up to Huang Zhizhou, glanced at Meier who was covering her face in panic on the ground, and said indifferently: "Lord Zhizhou, this girl must be your favorite Meier from Wanchun Garden, right? Yesterday her maid brought people When I went to the Hengshan Foyin Inn, she said that I would chop off my legs and insult my family members. Today I heard that she sent people all over the city to search for me. Just now, she led dozens of people to besiege me. Lord Zhizhou, one spring Miss Lou, you can use your name to arrest and beat people at will, you are indeed very capable in governing the state."

Huang Zhizhou was sweating like rain, and kowtowed: "Damn the lowly position..., damn the lowly position, it's all because of this bitch abusing his official name. The lowly position doesn't know about it, please be careful!"

Du Wenhao said coldly: "I believe what you said, how should this matter be resolved, you can say something."

"Yes, yes!" Huang Zhizhou turned around and shouted to the Zaolis, "Take it down! These thieves from Wanchunyuan dare to attack the imperial court officials and insult their family members, I will take them all down!"

The Zaolis agreed in unison, shook their chains with a clang, rushed forward together, locked all the Wanchunyuan thugs who were standing still, and pushed them to kneel on the ground.Only Mei'er and the two maidservants remained unmoved.

Huang Shirong got up, pulled Meier's hair, dragged her to Du Wenhao, kicked her feet, and Meier knelt down in front of Du Wenhao: "You bitch! Why don't you hurry up and bring the criminal officer to Mr. Please forgive me!"

Mei'er finally knew now that she had stabbed a hornet's nest.Attempting to murder an official of the imperial court is openly confronting the imperial court. It belongs to treason and injustice among the ten heinous crimes. If it wants to implicate the nine clans, Meier naturally knows the severity of it. She was so frightened that she fell to the ground like a puddle of mud Weeping and saying: "Master of punishment..., please forgive me..."

The two maidservants also knelt down and kowtowed.

Du Wenhao said coldly: "You guys pretend to be powerful and bully others, and you have done a lot of bad things. Huang Zhizhou, I will hand over this case to you personally. I want to see how you handle it and how to rectify the place. Tomorrow, the case and the proposed Tell me your opinion!" After finishing speaking, he flicked his sleeves and turned around to enter the inn.

Huang Zhizhou repeatedly agreed, thinking quickly about what to do.

After all, he was old and sophisticated, so he immediately figured out what to do. Huang Zhizhou got up, ordered Meier and others to be brought back to the yamen, and immediately went to court for questioning.

When Meier heard this, she was really frightened this time. She hugged Huang Shirong's fat legs tightly with both hands. His leg seemed to be holding on to a life-saving straw: "Master! Master, please spare me!"

Huang Shirong squinted at Mei'er on the ground. How long ago did this daughter make him lose his mind? Those eyes, those eyebrows, that figure, that... Forget it, I can't think about it, there are so many women in the world, as long as they have the right to Powerful, I'm afraid I can't do it without a beautiful woman. Today I offended the criminal officer. The criminal officer not only mentions prison, but also pickets the place. Officials who violate the law and discipline have the right to suspend their duties directly for investigation, and even arrest them and send them to Yushitai in the capital. Punishment.If this matter is not settled today, I am afraid there will be catastrophe immediately.

At that moment, he gritted his teeth, and said sternly, "Lock up this treasonous prison, take him back, and I will personally interrogate him!"

Several Zao Li agreed, rushed up and shook the chains to lock Meier. They also knew that Huang Zhizhou was going to show the prisoner, and they were merciless in their actions. Not only was the chain locked like a big rice dumpling, but There was also a crackling slap in the face.Detained a group of people and waited away.

Seeing that Huang Zhizhou was submissive in front of Du Wenhao, shopkeeper Leng felt a lot more at ease. Although Du Wenhao hadn't solved his problem yet, he knew that Du Wenhao would deal with it at the right time.That night, the shopkeeper Leng insisted on hosting Du Wenhao with a banquet.Du Wenhao didn't refuse either, and ate to his heart's content in the inn without inviting outsiders.

The next morning, after Du Wenhao woke up, a servant reported that Lord Zhizhou had been waiting in the living room for a long time.

Du Wenhao was not in a hurry, he put on his official robes slowly, drank morning tea, and then brought Li Pu and other guards and shopkeeper Leng to the living room step by step.

I saw a row of people kneeling on the floor against the wall in the living room, with heavy wooden frames around their necks and iron chains as thick as thumbs on their hands and feet. Foot, tell them to shut up.

Huang Zhizhou folded his hands, bowed his waist and lowered his head, waiting by the door with a sad face.

Seeing Du Wenhao and the others come in, Huang Zhizhou hastily bowed and saluted: "Master Ti Xing!"

Du Wenhao snorted, and glanced at the criminals kneeling on the ground, besides Meier and her two maidservants, there was also the big man who led the way to Hengshan the day before and had his leg cut off by Lin Qingdai, as well as the one who led the way with her yesterday. Li Pu and other guards were fighting Wanchunyuan thugs, and there were a few other very handsome middle-aged men and women who didn't know each other. They dragged their tone and said slowly: "Huang Zhizhou, who are these people?"

"Reporting to Mr. Ti Xing, these are the treasurer of Wanchunyuan, the old bustard, the mastermind who harassed Shangguan yesterday, and the backbone of the murderer."

"Oh——" Du Wenhao swayed three times and walked to the middle seat and sat down. Li Pu and other guards stood behind him.Yingzi made tea for Du Wenhao, then bowed and retreated, closing the door behind him.

Huang Zhizhou took out a stack of confessions, bowed his waist and walked in front of Du Wenhao, and handed it over with both hands with a smile on his face: "My lord, the low-ranking officer interrogated these traitors overnight, and found out the whole case. This is the first criminal and the principal criminal." Please have a look at the confession."

Du Wenhao didn't pick it up, picked up the tea bowl and blew gently, took a sip, and without looking at him, raised his face and said: "I won't read the confession, just tell me what's going on."

"Yes," Huang Zhizhou's forehead was dripping with cold sweat, and he didn't dare to reach out to wipe it off. He coughed lightly and said, "After interrogation, it was found that the shopkeeper of Wanchunyuan, the old bustard, and Huakui Meier used their power to bully others and the common people. Committed a total of sixteen felonies..."

Du Wenhao couldn't help wanting to laugh, but said with a straight face: "Sixteen crimes? What crimes are they all charged for?"

Huang Zhizhou took the confession and recited in cadence: "After investigation, Wanchunyuan Mei'er and others have committed the following sixteen crimes: gathering bandits, murdering court officials, and treason, one of them; Swearing and disrespecting, causing ancestors to suffer evil curses, is not filial, this is the second; falsely claiming that grandparents and parents are dead, is not filial, this is the third; hurting people and falsely falsely slandering the court officials, this is the fourth; using weapons to cause trouble and hurting people, this is the fifth; Forcing wives and daughters to become prostitutes, this is the sixth; seizing farmland, this is the seventh; selling lovers into slaves, this is the eighth; imprisoning debtors without authorization to drive them mad, this is the ninth;..."

Du Wenhao waved his hand and said, "Okay, what's your opinion on the plan?"

"The treasurer of Wanchunyuan, the old bustard and Meier, the two maidservants, and the chief culprit who participated in the murder of the adults will all be beheaded, and the five clans will be imprisoned. The males over 16 years old in his family will be exiled, and the female relatives will be sent to the army for three thousand miles. The family property will be confiscated. .The rest of the accomplices shall be punished with punishments such as hanging, strangling, imprisonment, and sticking."

"Well, quite a few of the crimes you have identified are heinous felonies, and they should be implicated in principle. However, you must be cautious when identifying such crimes. Are there any real evidence for these crimes?"

Huang Zhizhou laughed and said: "Yes, yes! I will remember the instructions of Mr. Ti Xing. These are all verified according to the facts. There are all witnesses and material evidences. The evidence is as solid as a mountain, and the criminals have all confessed."

"Really?" Du Wenhao stood up and walked in front of Meier and the others. He lowered his head and saw that almost all of these people had been tortured. There were marks of whips on their faces and bodies, and the coagulated blood stained their clothes. Adhering to the skin, moving the body will tear the wound and tear the pain.

Mei'er and the two maidservants were even worse. Apart from the whip wounds all over their bodies, their delicate hands were all bloody and swollen like radishes, and their ten fingernails were pulled out.They looked up at Du Wenhao with difficulty, their faces were full of pleading, their lips squirmed, but they couldn't speak.

Seeing that their lips were chapped, Du Wenhao ordered the escort Zaoli to bring them some cold water to drink.

Puzzled and grateful appeared on Meier's face, and she drank most of the scoop in one gulp.Finally, he said with a shy voice: "Many..., thank you Elder Master..., please..., beg Elder Master to save your life...!"

Du Wenhao said: "Are all the accusations Huang Zhizhou read about you and others true?"

Mei'er kowtowed her head with difficulty: "It's...true..., I beg the Lord...forgive me!"

Du Wenhao questioned other criminals, and they all bowed their heads and pleaded guilty, begging Du Wenhao to spare their lives.

Du Wenhao went back to his chair and sat down. He could guess the inside story. Few people could bear it under torture. Not yet dead.

Du Wenhao said to Huang Zhizhou: "Master Zhizhou, you have committed such a major treason case under your jurisdiction, as a parent official of Yizhou, what crime should you bear?"

Huang Zhizhou's heart skipped a beat. He tortured and charged these people online, and wanted to lose his pawn to save the car. Unexpectedly, Du Wenhao still pointed the finger at him. It is really difficult to shirk the responsibility for this serious case, and I am willing to take the blame and resign."

Having said that, Huang Zhizhou prostrated himself on the ground, sobbing and crying.

Du Wenhao didn't want to make things so complicated at first, he just wanted to take the shopkeeper Leng down the mountain to explain the situation to Huang Zhizhou, but he didn't expect that after he went down the mountain, he heard that Meier was searching for him everywhere, so he became angry.Knowing that there is no support from Huang Zhizhou, a brothel woman dare not be so arrogant.So I decided to treat them well.

Seeing that Meier and others were subjected to such torture, and Huang Zhizhou was punished enough, he should learn from it. He sighed and said with a serious look: "Huang Zhizhou, as parents and officials of the people, we should think about the people. , for the benefit of the people, instead of allowing these evil forces to harm the people. They are blind and offended the officials, and they are unlucky, so this case will be closed like this. If it were someone else, would they just bully ordinary people? I'm afraid They have already been killed and maimed by them! If these evil forces are allowed to run rampant, the common people will only resent us. We must know that water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it. If we lose the hearts of the people, the country and society will be in danger!"

"Yes, I will always remember my lord's instruction." Huang Zhizhou was sweating coldly.

"Again, I'm not sure if Wan Chunyuan's actions are really that bad. Regarding the fact that Mei'er and her maid gathered thugs in an attempt to kill me, I and the others were dressed in casual clothes at the time. And they really didn't know the true identity of the official at the time, and they didn't intend to murder the official who knew the imperial court ordered the official, so it can only be regarded as a general crime of fighting, and cannot be imposed on the heinous conspiracy of murdering the imperial official. Seek truth from facts.”

When Meier heard this, her scarred face was full of astonishment. Unexpectedly, Du Wenhao would speak for her, her heart felt warm, she fell to the ground and cried bitterly, choking with gratitude.

Du Wenhao said to Huang Zhizhou: "If the crime of treason and injustice is not enforced, this case is just a general charge of armed fighting, so we can be punished according to the punishment. Otherwise, it is a heinous and felony crime. As in general, this kind of rigid approach, not to mention the inappropriate crimes, will implicate the innocent, Zhizhou lord, your official career will not be guaranteed, and the whole family will be unlucky."

Huang Zhizhou was afraid for a while, and softened on the spot.

Du Wenhao said: "Okay, let's deal with this case as a matter of fact. Don't get caught up in the ten heinous crimes. As for Wan Chunyuan's forced wives and daughters into prostitution, robbery, etc., we must investigate it according to the facts. If there is, there will be, if there is no, there will be no, and after checking it out, report the plan to me truthfully."

"Yes, the humble official must investigate and deal with it according to the facts, not in vain or indulgence."

"That's good. As for you, Huang Zhizhou, since you don't have the heinous crime of treason and injustice, you won't be involved in the issue of your lack of control, so you don't have to take the blame and resign. The brothel holds the strong and bullying the weak and other punishments. There are so many criminal cases in the capital, not to mention the locality, if such a criminal case happens, the magistrate will take the blame and resign, and almost all prefectural and county officials in the country will have to be dismissed, so who will be the official to govern the locality? Besides, since you have realized your mistake, I believe that you will take it as a warning and will not let such unscrupulous people ruin your reputation again, right, hehehe"

Hearing this, Huang Zhizhou was so grateful that he felt like a spring breeze. He couldn't help but kowtowed and said, "Master Ti Xing...to be lenient to the humble officials, really makes the humble officials... so ashamed! From now on, the humble officials must strictly regulate the place, Live up to the high expectations of Mr. Ti Xing.”

"Okay!" Du Wenhao beckoned Shopkeeper Leng over, "Zhizhou Huang, Shopkeeper Leng is a good friend of this official. When Wan Chunyuan thugs Shang Hengshan attacked this official, Shopkeeper Leng risked his life to help him. It is really righteous. I will do it again in the future." Take some time to visit Hengshan again and catch up with Shopkeeper Leng, whether you really did what you said just now, Shopkeeper Leng will tell me the truth when the time comes."

Huang Zhizhou rushed to the shopkeeper Leng to the ground: "Please supervise the shopkeeper Leng!"

Shopkeeper Leng was terrified, and was about to kneel and kowtow in a hurry, but was stopped by Du Wenhao: "Treasurer Leng, from now on, you will monitor Huang Zhizhou on your behalf. If you have any problems, just report to me."

Shopkeeper Leng blushed. He knew that Du Wenhao had given him a talisman. Not only did Huang Zhizhou and the others not dare to do anything to him, but they wanted to flatter him.In gratitude, I didn't know what to say for a while.

The shopkeeper and the old bustard of Wanchun Garden originally thought that if they stabbed a hornet's nest this time, they would surely die, and they would also implicate the family. Relying on Huang Zhizhou's love for Mei'er, he bullied the weak, and did a lot of bad things, but they were all common things that brothels usually do. Besides, there were no particularly big bad things, and they didn't kill people. The investigation was well deserved, and it was a blessing to exempt the family from being implicated. They were all grateful and knelt down and kowtowed with difficulty. Even the big man with a broken leg lay on the door panel and kowtowed.

Huang Zhizhou escorted all the criminals back to the Yamen for retrial.The shopkeeper of Wanchunyuan and the old bustard were indeed guilty of prostitution, robbery, illegal detention, and injuries. In addition to this gathering of people to fight, they were sentenced to one hundred rods and three thousand miles.Mei'er and two servants have fifty rods and three years as apprentices.The rest of the first offenders were all sentenced to different punishments such as prison, staff, and flogging according to the law.Wanchunyuan was sealed up.All the women in the brothel returned home without ransom.Huang Zhizhou felt that the responsibility of connivance was unavoidable, so he asked for a one-year salary fine, and asked to be downgraded to one level as punishment.

After this result was reported to Du Wenhao, Du Wenhao reviewed the relevant evidence and believed that the facts were clear and the evidence was indeed sufficient. He agreed to the proposed sentence for other people, but he did not agree with the punishment of Meier and another maid, because the evidence proved that at that time It was the pig-headed servant girl who led the people up the mountain to commit the murder. At that time, Meier took another maidservant down the mountain to find Zhizhou. She did not know it, so the crime was relatively light. In addition, she had already been punished due to torture, so she was changed to fifty sticks. The Three Years of General Acts was abolished.After deliberating over the punishment Huang Zhizhou asked for himself, he still agreed. After all, he acted as a protective umbrella, so he still had to bear some of the guilt.

According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, prefectures and counties have the right to directly impose punishments of cane and staff, while punishments of criminals and exiles must be reported to the criminal officials for approval, and capital punishment (strangling and beheading) must be reported to Dali Temple for approval.The highest verdict in this case was passed, and Du Wenhao's direct approval took effect.As for Huang Zhizhou's fine salary and demotion punishment, it is enough for the criminal officer to make a decision and report it to Yushitai and the Ministry of Officials for the record.

(End of this chapter)