For the past few days, the eight-character wall in front of the Changlu County Yamen has been a favorite gathering place for Cangzhou people. Compared with the various notices in the past that were often not updated for dozens of days and faded off after being exposed to wind, rain, and sun.

Nowadays, the eight-character wall is updated at least once a day, and there are even government servants or petty officials reading it loudly beside it. Everyone is happy to come and take a look or listen to the latest news.

As a result, more than a dozen people gathered in front of the Changlu County Yamen early in the morning - some were shop owners from nearby shops, taking advantage of the fact that they had just opened and there were no customers to join in the fun, and some were ordinary people living nearby, who got up early and came to hear the news.

I planned to go to work. When the two guards finally took out a few rolls of notices and put them up, someone who was anxious and literate immediately came forward.

Seeing that the first notice was posted, he squinted his eyes and read while waiting for the officer who read it to speak: "Today's headlines, General Mingwei will interrogate Changlu County Magistrate Xu Cheng and county officials in Chenzheng

And some servants..."

He was stunned for a moment, and felt a surge of excitement. There were rumors outside that Xu Cheng and other officials would be escorted back to the capital to await trial. They would probably be demoted and resigned, but he didn't expect that they would be put on trial.

Cangzhou trial! After reacting, he hurriedly said to the people around him: "Great, General Zhu is going to try that dog officer Xu Cheng!"

The news spread so quickly from inside to outside that when the guards lazily ignored the first notice, which had already spread to everyone's ears, and began to read the second notice, many people did not pay attention at all.

"Dr. Zhang of the Imperial College will interrogate eight people including spinner Xian Yunhe."

It wasn't until someone realized that this news was also not trivial, that they started shouting, and people couldn't help but look at each other. Before, it was the big families, idle men and bullies, but now it's the turn of the officials and the rioters? It is indeed a quick knife to cut through the mess, so fast

!

So, the cold and ruthless General Mingwei came to interrogate Xu Cheng and others, and the warm and kind Dr. Zhang came to interrogate Xian Yunhe and others. Does this foreshadow the final result?

The news spread to ten, and as the workshops had not all resumed work, most spinners and cotton farmers had gathered with the news and gathered in front of the county government office, hoping to witness Xu Cheng's final fate as soon as possible.

Not only them, but also various large households that had been hit hard before sent people to some extent. Some were stewards and servants, while some came in person.

For example, Young Master Jiang ignored his injured butt and came here in person. However, just after his carriage stopped along the wall, he closed his eyes to concentrate and suddenly heard something coming from outside.

There was a sound like a roaring mountain and a tsunami.

"Kill that bitch Xu Cheng!"

"Xu Gou Guan, I think back then when you instigated the officers to beat us complainants away with sticks, you would still be here today!"

"General Mingwei is fair and strict, and he will definitely give justice to the people of Cangzhou!"

Young Master Jiang almost stood up in excitement. He didn't care about his still burning butt. He hurriedly opened the curtains and looked around. He saw Xu Cheng sitting in a carriage being sent to the county government office. On the carriage

It was clear that there were a lot of rotten vegetable peels and rotten fruits. He even smelled the smell of rotten eggs from a distance. It was obvious that someone had smashed them along the way.

Although I deeply hate this guy who didn't take any care - because if the magistrate of Changlu County was a strong magistrate, then the eldest prince might have left in despair, and his father and the three brothers would not be so unlucky - but

, Mr. Jiang still knows that, as a grasshopper who was once tied to a rope, the Jiang family and other families are worse off than each other. Of course Xu Cheng cannot be exempted from guilt.

He unconsciously rubbed his buttocks, feeling frightened when he thought of the beating that day. He couldn't help but cursed in a low voice: "How many people have you beaten in the past? You deserve to be beaten back today!"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he heard the coachman outside whisper: "Young master, you think too easily. The punishment cannot be as good as that of a doctor, and the courtesy cannot be as good as that of a commoner. After all, Xu Cheng is a Jinshi nominated by the Xingban, no matter what

Even if you are guilty, you will not be beaten."

Young Master Jiang suddenly became unhappy. What does it mean to not be punished as a doctor? The three brothers together received forty, and his father received forty alone. How could Xu Cheng escape just because he became a Jinshi?

?Based on the perverse behavior of this Changlu County Magistrate in Cangzhou for several years, the least he can do is receive a hundred and eighty sticks!

As for killing Xu Cheng, he had no extravagant expectations. He was still a seventh-grade county magistrate after all, and was not easy to kill. In the play, the inspector of the eighth government took Shang Fang's sword and pushed all the way to kill corrupt officials.

Bully and evil gentry, that's just a show, it can't be taken seriously.

Xu Cheng never dreamed that after taking the train, he would not go to Beijing, but be sent to the Changlu County government office. Yesterday, he did have the idea of ​​​​suicide. However, Du Heng came over in person and presented the facts and reason, which made him wake up to the thought of rashly committing suicide.

After seeking death, he gave up the idea.

Not to mention that suicide by an official does not solve all problems. If he dies, his family will be affected. If he dies, he will be extremely unlucky. It is not that he does not have connections in the capital such as fellow townsmen and the same age. These people may not be able to help him.

It shouldn't be difficult to get away with it, but it shouldn't be difficult to save his life, right? He didn't commit murder or arson, he was just greedy for a little money, so why was he about to die?

In this case, a temporary humiliation is nothing, just get over it!

Thinking of this, when Xu Cheng stepped into the county government lobby with his arms held by people from both sides, he was naturally prepared to endure the humiliation. However, when he saw the familiar environment, he still felt extremely low and almost fell down with sadness.

Cry.

Once here, he was standing high in the hall, and when the wall was struck, everyone, whether complaining or accused, could only kneel down obediently and wait for him to be punished. He could hit whoever he wanted.

Feel free to let it go however you want.

The pleasure of controlling the power of life and death cannot be experienced by someone who has spent his whole life traveling around the capital, serving his superiors and making friends with his colleagues, and has never had the opportunity to take charge of a political party.

But at this moment, although he has never been tortured, he is still a prisoner in the hall, even if he does not have to kneel...

Just when Xu Cheng was thinking that he didn't have to kneel down yet, he suddenly received a heavy kick on his knee. Immediately afterwards, he couldn't help but fell to his knees with a plop. He came to his senses in a moment, and was shocked and angry.

He shouted: "I am a county magistrate with a Jinshi background, Zhu Tingfang, why do you judge me and make me kneel down!"

Zhang Shou, who was listening in the audience, couldn't help laughing, thinking that he would put on airs even when he was about to die. It was indeed the scholar's sense of superiority that caused the problem. He looked at Ge Yong again, and saw that the old master was also frowning, with a look of disgust on his face.

Compared to their merely mocking reactions, Zhu Tingfang's response was much more straightforward.

"You are no longer the magistrate of Changlu County who was born as a Jinshi, because you have been dismissed by the imperial court as a civilian and your family background has been taken away. In other words, all the honors you have obtained in the imperial examination room, whether it is a scholar, a scholar, or a Jinshi, have all been dismissed.

We won everything, not a single one is left! You dare not kneel down when the people are judged by the officials?"

As the words rang loudly, Xu Cheng felt so shocked that he suddenly collapsed to the ground. So many officials were imprisoned because of the failure of political struggles, corruption, perversion of the law and other crimes.

There are many people who have been dismissed from their posts to serve the people, but the pursuit of family origin is the most serious kind. It can be said that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, only a handful of people have been punished so severely!

Why was he treated like this? It’s not like there were no pastoral officials who radicalized good people in the past...

Zhu Tingfang ignored Xu Cheng, who was feeling sorry for himself, and said in a cold voice: "As a shepherd, during your many years in office, you accepted bribes, corrupted the law, embezzled grain depots, and seized other people's property..."

After listing Xu Cheng's more than ten charges in one breath, he motioned to Master Sun on the side and said: "Read Xu Cheng's detailed charges, as well as witness testimonies and physical evidence, etc. one by one, and let Taishi Ge and Dr. Zhang read them out one by one.

Listen carefully."

Seeing Master Sun glance at him arrogantly, he immediately began to read out his charges loudly. As Xu Cheng listened, he realized something was wrong and suddenly woke up. The man who usually couldn't stand in front of him

The guy who was so careless now looked at him kneeling at his feet. Although he was filled with anger and hatred, he could still bear it, but what the other person said was no small matter.

Because it did not involve many details of his collusion with the eldest prince, it just brought together many of his misdeeds in Cangzhou over the years. It seemed that there were a lot of charges, but in fact it was suspected of evading the most important. However, he suddenly

I heard, not only in this hall, but also at the county government office gate in the distance, there seemed to be a loud voice reading his charges to the people.

Although he didn't know that when Zhu Tingfang dealt with the Jiang family, Qi family and other wealthy families, he did not highlight collusion with the eldest prince, etc., but at this moment, when such a sign emerged, he was still moved by it.

It shudders. Is this an attempt to weaken this civil uprising, but to brand him as a corrupt official and then severely punish him, so as to appease the people?

He stood up with his hands on the ground and saw that Master Ge was listening attentively on the chair to the left of the main seat in the lobby. Thinking of what people said when they came to see him yesterday, he knew

It was impossible to expect this highly respected imperial master to let him go, so he immediately turned his attention to Zhang Shou on the other side.

He didn't recognize the young man who helped Ge Yong come to see him yesterday, but Zhu Tingfang had just called him Dr. Zhang, and seeing that he was handsome and handsome, he remembered the rumors he had heard about the eldest prince's new spinning machine before.

He still doesn't know who that is? Although he is completely unsure whether the other party will take this side, he can no longer care and can only grasp the possible life-saving straw.

Because the eldest prince once mentioned inadvertently when he was drunk that although Zhang Shou was very popular with Mrs. Zhao Guotai and his wife, and was particularly fond of the eldest lady, he did not seem to be so harmonious with Zhu Tingfang, his future uncle!

"Dr. Zhang, Grand Master Ge also said yesterday that he wanted to drive me to Beijing to await the court's decision. But why are you trying me here in Changlu County today? You are a doctor of Guozi, knowledgeable and proficient in law. You should

I know that even if I have been dismissed from my post as a citizen and my family background has been taken away, I was once an official of the imperial court, and I should be tried by the Three Laws Tribunal. General Mingwei is overstepping his authority!"

How cold do you have to be to beg me? Do you think I have to compete with my future uncle to steal the limelight? Also, what the hell is being proficient in the law? My familiarity with Ming law is far worse than that of Zhu Tingfang

Yes, it’s still a book I’ve been reading on the spur of the moment these days!

Zhang Shou was startled, and then he said calmly: "Grand Master Ge said yesterday that he would transport you to the capital in a carriage, but this time he also brought the documents granted by the imperial court to General Mingwei to deal with the Cangzhou prison on an ad hoc basis.

Purpose. Since you are already a prisoner awaiting punishment, you are naturally among those to be punished."

Zhang Shou and Zhu Tingfang discussed today's matter in advance and specially borrowed four students from Xu Weng who had the best memory and the fastest response to communicate everything that happened in the hall in a timely manner and announce them one by one. In short

, that is, an information broadcasting channel was built, so every word spoken in the courtroom at this time was clearly transmitted to the people watching outside the county government office.

When hearing Zhang Shou's reply to Xu Cheng, someone in the crowd shouted loudly: "Yes, of course Xu Cheng should be tried in Cangzhou after he has been scrapping land in Cangzhou for so many years. Otherwise, wouldn't our Cangzhou people suffer in vain?"

You have been exploited for so many years, and you have suffered so many years in vain!”

Xu Cheng couldn't hear clearly the shouting outside, but he still had no problem catching a few words. He felt the raging public sentiment for the first time, and ignored Zhang Shou's statement, which was almost equivalent to standing on the same boat as Zhu Tingfang, and said with all his strength:

"How can civilian prisons be the same as scholar-bureaucrat prisons? I don't accept it!"

"Even if you, the Duke of Zhao, are relatives of the emperor, you can't cover up the sky with one hand!"

"When you were ruling the city with one hand, someone cried out in front of you, how did you respond to him? If I remember your charges correctly, I think there was someone who was robbed of his family property by you when you solved the case, and cried out in front of the county government office.

, you sent someone to beat him up with sticks, and then died at home, right?" Zhu Tingfang stood up, walked straight to Xu Cheng, and actually grabbed the person's collar.

Seeing this scene, even though he had murmured a lot about his future uncle in the past, Zhang Shou couldn't help but praise him in his heart - although this kind of behavior is really too random, but to be fair, for a person who is so shameless that he is completely shameless.

He actually wanted to roll up his sleeves and beat someone up. So he stood up in a hurry without thinking and rushed over quickly.

"General Zhu, don't be impulsive..." Zhang Shou said while pretending to stop Zhu Tingfang, but he kicked Xu Cheng hard on the stomach with a shadowless foot. Seeing Xu Cheng who was about to call for help, he suddenly gasped,

But because Zhu Tingfang was holding his collar and unable to scream, he said calmly, "Such a person who harms the people is indeed committing a heinous crime. If General Zhu is angered by him, wouldn't he be deceived?"

Naturally, the scene just now could not be hidden from Zhu Tingfang's eyes. He glanced at Zhang Shou's foot in surprise, thinking that although his future brother-in-law Wenwen was weak, the kick just now was quite cruel, but it turned out to be a sweetheart, no wonder Ying

Ying Hui likes him. Of course, with this kick, if a fight breaks out, she probably won't be able to beat his sister...

After such a completely irrelevant and meaningless thought flashed through his mind, he said calmly: "Who said I was angered by him? Since he claims that the prison of scholar-officials has nothing to do with the prison of civilians, then I will take him out.
Chapter completed!