There are no lids on the rivers, lakes and seas, and there are no restrictions on the purchase of rat medicine. If a person really wants to die, there are many ways to go to hell quietly.
People like Wei Chen, the widow of Wei Yuanwai, chose broad daylight when the streets were bustling. Dressed in full filial piety, they led their young children to the busy Jishan Hall and wanted to hang themselves from a beam in front of the people on the street. It would be strange if he could die like this.
Most of the people are always simple and kind-hearted. Many people rushed over to stop and persuade him, and some asked him why.
Mrs. Wei Chen only covered her face and cried for her late husband. She kept saying that her husband's name was on the monument of merit and deeds. However, she did good deeds but was not rewarded. Her family was wronged, her late husband was forced to death, and her orphans and widowed mother were kicked out. The door of the house is like this.
Jishantang is in the north of the city, and the Wei family is in the south. They are far apart. The women of wealthy and noble families in this world do not appear in public, so no people can recognize which family they are.
Hearing what she said was desolate, it was pitiful to have orphans and widowed mothers wearing sackcloth and filial piety, and good people not being rewarded was a favorite drama among the people. Ordinary people could not help but feel sympathy, and they talked about their relatives, neighbors, or what they had heard. If others are upset, the number of onlookers will increase.
Fucheng was re-divided into districts due to the construction of Shecang. In each district, a member of the Dengzhou Guard Qi Qian was responsible for public security, and specialized soldiers were arranged for daily patrols.
Jishantang is near the Chenghuang Temple, and this area is the focus of patrolling. As soon as the crowd gathered, the patrolmen there quickly rushed over.
In the past, there were two incidents of causing trouble in the grain store and collecting rice from the salary warehouse. These days, the patrols are very strict. Those who are petty thieves on the street and those who use alcohol to make trouble are caught by the patrolmen, and they are all sent to the police according to the seriousness of the crime. Go to the beach to dig sand or build a post road outside the city.
The public security situation in the city suddenly improved, and the people's attitude towards the patrols became respectful and fearful, and they even understood the rule of "not interfering with law enforcement."
Therefore, as soon as they saw the patrols approaching, the onlookers quickly dispersed and just stood watching the excitement from a distance without moving forward to talk to each other.
The Wei and Chen family were still there crying and saying something to incite the masses, but suddenly they saw everyone leaving quickly, so they couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.
The patrol leader, Xiao Qi, looked at the Wei Chen family up and down, and said with a cold face: "Which family are you a female dependent from? Why are you making such a noise here?"
Wei Chen immediately burst out into a mournful voice, and changed the tune three times, "The women of the people are being wronged..."
Xiao Qi immediately interrupted her and shouted: "Since there is a grievance, why don't you go to the county government office to beat the drum and redress the grievances?"
Mrs. Wei Chen couldn't keep up her crying when he shouted at her. She choked twice and weakly twisted Bai Ling and said: "The injustice of the women is as deep as the sea, and there is really no way to live..."
Xiao Qi lowered his face and said: "If you have a grievance, go straight to redress it. What's the use of wiping your neck and hanging yourself? Besides, if you hang yourself here, what will your son do? Have you ever thought about scaring him?"
Mrs. Wei Chen was choked again. She was just here to cause trouble, so she naturally wanted to drag the child out to gain more sympathy. How could she want to place the child and scare the child after he died?
So when the question came to her head, she really had no words to answer, so she had to hide her face in silence, whimpering and crying.
The little flag looked around at the people, and then asked her again: "I heard that you said that your husband has done good deeds and has a name in this Jishan hall. Doing good deeds and doing good deeds is about cultivating one's own merits, not business transactions. If you do it, you have to get back the profits." Money is coming, but you want to accumulate virtue, but you come here to mess around, what's the point?"
When he said this, many people began to respond to him, "Yes, I haven't heard that if you go to the temple to burn incense and make your wishes, you will hang yourself at the temple gate."
The woman's face turned the color of pig's liver, and she said hurriedly: "No, no, the civilian woman is not here to seek any reward. It's just... she just feels her life experience..." Then she started wailing again, "What's the fate of a civilian woman?"
It has to be so painful..."
The Xiaoqi then said coldly: "Why was your family wronged? Who forced your husband to death? Why didn't you report it to the official?"
Mrs. Wei Chen wanted to pretend that she was crying so much that she couldn't help herself and avoid talking about it.
Pian Na Xiaoqi continued: "You and your son were kicked out, and by whom? Is it your mother-in-law? Is it a relative? If someone has seized your property, you should report it to the county magistrate. The magistrate makes the decision!
If you really died here, wouldn't you have fulfilled the villain's wish?"
Then he said to the people watching on the left and right: "Dear neighbors, who knows that the prefect cares about the people and is most willing to make decisions for the people!"
At this time, when the city was undergoing a new change and the prefect Shen Rui's popularity was rising, the people immediately responded and boasted that Lord Shen was the best official in the world.
Mrs. Wei Chen secretly hated that it was this "good official" who had harmed her family!
But he couldn't answer a word, so he could only continue crying.
The people around her also discovered at this moment that the woman just cried and said that her family was wronged and pitiful, but she did not tell any key information.
Inevitably, the idle guy watching the fun said in a strange tone: "I'm afraid she's just here to cause trouble. Look, she wants to hang herself without even finding a stepping stone. Can she reach the rope?"
The people around her couldn't help laughing when they looked at the woman's petite figure. Most of those who had pityed her before had woken up.
Mrs. Wei Chen was so regretful that her intestines turned green. She had no shame in staying here any longer. She covered her face with her sleeve, pulled her son away and left.
However, the patrolmen could not let her go. They immediately surrounded her and blocked her way.
Mrs. Wei Chen was panicked, so she secretly pinched her son hard. The child was confused and burst into tears. Mrs. Wei Chen immediately cried and said: "What do you mean by these bad guys? I am an orphan and a widowed mother..."
"
The little flag had already come over, stood in front of her, and said solemnly: "You have grievances, and we have encountered them, how can you ignore them? If your mother and son died, and there was something wrong, wouldn't it be our fault?"
When there was trouble in the grain store earlier, this little flag also participated in the operation to arrest rogues, so he was very vigilant. He was afraid that if he let this woman go, she would go elsewhere to instigate people to make trouble. Therefore, he had to be arrested before anything else.
Take it away and talk about it later.
"He died without reporting it to the official, and he also took possession of family property. I am afraid that such a big matter must be dealt with by the county government," Xiaoqi said loudly, not intending to send the person to the county government as usual.
He waved his hand and ordered the patrolman beside him: "Go to the nearest horse and carriage shop and borrow a set of cars. Let's allocate some people to escort the mother and son to the government office."
How could Mrs. Wei Chen agree, but she had small feet and was carrying a child, so she couldn't run away even if she wanted to. She refused with various excuses, and the people around her started making noises, calling her a liar, but Xiao Qi was also determined and wouldn't give in.
.
Chenghuang Temple and Jishantang were both important stops for carriages and horses. The patrolmen quickly borrowed carriages and horses. Wei Chen couldn't even think about it, so she had to bite the bullet and get on the carriage.
There were people around who were addicted to watching the excitement. When they heard that they were going to the government office, they couldn't help but want to follow him to see the new magistrate's trial.
The little flag refused to obey, and he told the people with a cold face that they were not allowed to watch.
Although everyone only agreed, many people were curious and had some spare money. The public post buses were right next to them and the fares were cheap. When the patrolmen left, some good-hearted people joined in the fun and boarded the post buses.
Even the one who was reluctant to give up two cents and still wanted to watch the excitement followed him from a distance. Anyway, the patrolmen were escorting the woman's carriage on foot, so they couldn't go very fast at all.
The patrolman chased him away twice, but he still didn't chase him away. He thought that when the county government held court hearings, people were not allowed to enter the Yimen to listen. There were also many people outside the government office listening to the news and other news, and they couldn't stop them, so they
So he gave up and let the people in the north of the city follow.
Xiaoqi over there had already sent someone to deliver the letter to the government office.
Shen Rui couldn't help laughing when he heard that sentence was missing a stepping stone.
He had long wondered that in those miscellaneous books and plays, it was often written about people hanging in front of other people's houses. He couldn't carry a stool to his own house to step on. If he moved a stone to step on, would he be able to kick it over? How could he die!
With this thought in mind, he couldn't help but say a few words.
Master Xiao, who was next to him, liked to joke the most, so he said with a smile: "Maybe the door beam is low, or maybe someone who is looking for short-sightedness is good at jumping, I don't know."
Master Chen's stern face couldn't hold back anymore, he couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, and said helplessly: "Miscellaneous records of unofficial history are not trustworthy." He said hurriedly and seriously: "My boss, this matter is quite fishy. This Xiaoqi is still reckless, isn't it better?
Ask this woman for the petition, check the evidence, and let her go home first..."
Tian Shun, who was on the sidelines, became anxious and said: "Sir, there is no good thing in the Wei family. The two little brats of the Wei family are still pretending to be dead. It just so happens that this woman bumps into the door. Why don't we just take her!"
The Wei family has always been a key target of surveillance. Wang Guangzi took a group of people to Zhaoyuan County to prevent the refugees from disaster. Tian Shun was in charge of the news network in Fucheng.
The Wei family's farmland has almost been checked. Originally, Dengzhou's land boundaries had historical problems of dividing acres. There are quite a few people who convert three acres into one mu (taxation is based on one mu of land). The Wei family's situation is even worse. Many good fields are five or even five acres.
Seven acres are converted into one acre.
There are also many ambiguities, such as the two deeded fields are not adjacent to each other, and the middle field is considered an ownerless land, but it is controlled by the Wei family. Tenants pay rent to the Wei family, and the Wei family only pays rent according to ownership.
The two parcels with a deed are subject to land tax, while the parcel without a deed is tax evasion.
After this clearing, the Wei family's hidden land amounted to a hundred hectares, and the registration was unclear, and the good land was used as bad land to collect taxes. These accounted for 60% of the Wei family's land property.
In terms of tax evasion, with such an amount, half of the property would be confiscated. If Wei Yuanwai did not die, fifty floggings would be enough to kill half of his life.
However, if a member of the Wei Dynasty dies, the corpse cannot be whipped with a stick, but the penalty and confiscation will remain the same, but there is no such thing as the penalty for death.
Normally sensible people would actively go to the Yamen to ask for forgiveness when their backstage collapsed. If they actively cooperated, they might be punished less, or at least leave a way out for the future.
However, the eldest son of the Wei family is not in trouble. He is already a married man and he is not a young boy, but he is pretending to be cowardly because of a family funeral.
Tian Shun naturally looked displeased.
Now that the Wei Chen family is causing trouble, it is indeed a knock on the door. The reason why the Wei Chen family is looking for death and survival is not to play a double act with the two stepsons, but to be kicked out by the stepsons.
When Wei Yuanwai complained that he was ill, he asked his step-sibling Wei Chen to take his young son to live in Puzhao Temple in the name of praying for blessings. It was not long before the couple quietly drove out of the city and headed to Fushan and Ninghai.
Went to the state direction.
As a result, Wei Yuanwai died suddenly before he could run away.
The eldest son of the Wei family did not know about his father's plan, so he sent his servants to the temple to report the news to pick up his stepmother, but nothing happened.
The eldest son and the second son of Wei were both born to the head of the family. There were more than twenty of them, and they were all married and had families. The daughter-in-law could also organize the funeral and send it there, without the Wei Chen family doing anything. Besides, the Wei family was really
No one came to express condolences.
Therefore, Erlang, the eldest son of the Wei family, did not send anyone to find the Wei Chen family at all. Instead, he set up a mourning tent and held the funeral ceremony. Wei Dalang even carried out the funeral ceremony of the Wei Chen family in front of his father's funeral and in front of his clan members as the patriarch.
He and his younger brother Wei Wulang were exterminated. The reason was that the Wei Chen family did not abide by women's ethics and Wei Wulang's bloodline was questionable.
Mrs. Wei Chen probably heard the news on the way and rushed back in a hurry, but she couldn't get into the Wei family's door.
The Wei family is not a big family, and there are few important elders in the family who can come out to "justice." Wei and Chen took their son to the homes of several relatives and friends, but most of them were rejected.
She didn't know who gave her such an idea, so she came to Jishan Hall to make a fuss.
Tian Shun said fiercely: "That woman was married to a matchmaker named Wei, and her stepmother is also a mother. Can this be used to accuse the Wei family of two little brats of being unfilial?"
The Ming Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. In the laws of the Ming Dynasty, unfilial piety and rebellion were both listed as one of the ten evils. They were considered extremely heinous. In the past, they were not punished with death, and many were sentenced to life-long labor service.
Master Chen said: "If the woman accuses her stepson of being unfilial and disloyal, Wei Dalang can indeed be punished. How could the woman not know this and not come to accuse her, but choose this time to go to Jishan Hall to cause trouble?
I don’t know what the intentions of the person behind the plan are, but we still need to investigate.”
Tian Shun couldn't say anything, but couldn't help but muttered: "What kind of trouble can she cause? She is just disgusting. The Wei family is not a kind family in the city, and this time they are selling food, even more so."
It makes the people's teeth itch with hatred. When everyone knows that this is the Wei family's mother-in-law, who will have the patience to watch her act!"
Shen Rui waved his hand and said: "No more investigation. The soldiers are coming to cover up the water and the soil. The Wei family's land in Penglai has been investigated. Those in Ninghai Prefecture and other prefectures and counties are just waiting for the local investigation. Let's settle it first."
Then he said to Tian Shun: "That Xiaoqi is quite intelligent and a useful talent. We are short of manpower, so we went back to say hello to Qi Dalang and asked him to temporarily work as an errand in the government office."
Master Chen frowned and advised: "Master, do you want to slow down? It is always unreliable if we don't fish out the person behind this woman. I can instigate this woman this time, but I don't know what tricks I can do next time. Only Qianri can do it.
A thief cannot be protected against a thief for a thousand days."
Shen Rui shook his head and said: "We need to investigate, but the case can't wait any longer. Seeing that the refugees are about to arrive, Fourth Uncle Lian will arrive in just a day or two. The Wei family's matter will be settled as soon as possible, and the remaining matters will be settled soon.
Easy to push forward.”
Upon hearing this, Master Chen nodded and stopped persuading him. He turned to Master Jiang and said, "I'd like to trouble Yan Xing to sort out the files on the Wei family's land."
Mrs. Wei Chen thought over and over again along the way, listening to the patrol outside talking to the people. She knew that people were following to watch the fun, and she felt that she had some support in her heart. She was ready to go to the court and cried first, and then strengthened it.
The image of a weak woman can gain some sympathy.
The relative said that as long as the people took pity on her and helped her to open her eyes, even the officials would not dare to touch her for fear of offending the public.
As a result, when she got to the hall, the officials on both sides threw water and fire sticks to the ground and shouted powerfully, which frightened her so much that she lost most of her courage and couldn't even cry anymore. She fell on the ground and trembled slightly.
When the master of the house asked her what grievances she had, Mrs. Wei and Chen didn't dare to say that her husband was forced to die. She only said that she was kicked out of the house by her stepson, and she didn't even let her look at her husband's coffin.
Shen Rui threw down the sign and asked the police to go and invite the defendants from the Wei family and the elders of the Wei family and other witnesses to come to the court.
The Wei Chen family naturally hated Magistrate Shen who had caused trouble and ruined her family (she naturally believed that her family was framed by others), but now she hated Wei Dalang even more for not sharing half of the family property with her and her son and expelling their names from the family tree.
This was done too badly. The name was removed from the family tree, and the family was exterminated on the grounds of "not observing women's ethics" and "suspicious blood". She and her son would not be able to hold their heads high for the rest of their lives.
At this moment, I heard that the master was going to arrest Wei Dalang, and I felt happy. I just thought that I would put the Dalang Erlang to death and take the family property into the hands of my son. As for the concubine, Sanlang and Shilang, I would just give him some money and marry him. They separated and lived alone, and the Wei family was their own.
Unexpectedly, the prefect above suddenly asked: "You said earlier that your husband was wrongfully accused and forced to death. This unfilial case came after your husband's death. Let's try the case of your husband being forced to death first."
Mrs. Wei Chen had just made up her mind to torture her stepson to death. When she was suddenly asked about her husband, she was confused again. She couldn't react at the moment and stammered: "A civilian woman... A civilian woman... Because her late husband was ill for a long time, she went with her late husband. We discussed going to Puzhao Temple to pray for him. When we left, my husband was fine, but suddenly there was news of his death. Da Lang Erlang did not allow the women, mother and son to enter the mourning hall, which shows that my husband died strangely..."
Shen Rui raised his eyebrows and said with confusion: "Since you said that your husband has been ill for a long time and is so ill that you need to pray for him, what's so surprising about the news of his death?"
Mrs. Wei Chen opened her mouth but couldn't say a word. Could she say that her husband was pretending to be ill?
She had no choice but to bite the bullet and argue: "If it was a normal illness, why don't we all be allowed in by Mr. Erlang? People on the street said..." She gritted her teeth and said, "People on the street said that my husband passed out because of anger. If Lang Erlang didn't hire a doctor for him, he would be killed."
"What do people say on the street? Who says it on the street? Is there any evidence? Such words cannot be used as evidence. If you accuse the two sons of murdering their father, you must have real witnesses and physical evidence." Shen Rui said solemnly, " What kind of injustice do you mean when you say that your husband has been wronged?"
Mrs. Wei Chen felt that cold sweat had broken down her back, and her throat was dry. She had just cried and howled a few words in front of Jishan Hall, but she couldn't stand up to a single sentence in front of the court.
"No... no... no... grievances." She finally lowered her head and said.
Shen Rui lowered his face, slapped the crowd in shock, and shouted: "If you have no grievances, why do you go to Jishan Hall to complain about grievances, incite people, pick quarrels and cause trouble? Do you know the crime?!"
"People's women...people's women...people's women are talking nonsense in a moment of passion..." Mrs. Wei Chen's tears finally came down. Don't wait to cure Da Lang Erlang, so she should fold herself in first.
"Is it nonsense to 'cry out injustice' in front of Jishan Hall, or is it nonsense to say 'there is no grievance' just now?"
"This...this..." Mrs. Wei Chen hadn't weighed it up yet, so she couldn't answer for a while, so she had to pretend to cry on the ground to delay time, and her mind was spinning rapidly, thinking about ideas.
Thinking that Zhang Ji was already dead, if he didn't blame all the mistakes, the prefect wouldn't be able to confront Zhang Ji anyway.
She made up her mind, wiped away her tears, raised her head, and said: "A commoner woman only lives in the inner house, and her late husband is always busy outside in order to do all the important things at home. When he came in, he was... forced to do it by the chief envoy Zhang.
There were many things that happened, and I had to sell the treasures in my house, break them into silver coins, and send them to Jinan Mansion..."
She suddenly remembered Manager Xue who had left with a sum of money in the end, and said hurriedly: "Just a few days ago, a manager named Xue came to our house. He kept forcing my husband and took away 6,000 taels of silver from my family.
!”
Today, many people came to hear the trial, and Shen Rui did not stop him. He especially wanted to promote Qingzhang's land in this case. He needed a public opinion base, so he allowed the people to come to the Yimen to hear the trial, and also mobilized government officials and patrolmen to maintain the case.
order.
As soon as the figure of six thousand taels of silver came out, the people were in an uproar.
In the remote area of Dengzhou, the people are not rich, and those with a family of 600 taels are considered wealthy. In their eyes, these 6,000 taels are simply an astronomical figure.
Now everyone knew that this was the wife of Wei Ji’s grain shop, so some people shouted angrily: “We have so much money at home, but we sell the grain and rice at such a high price! All the money used to bribe the high officials of Jinan Prefecture came from
It was scraped off our bodies?!"
When the people around him heard this, they became angry and shouted.
The government officials and patrols outside were all well-trained. They immediately stepped forward to stop and quickly brought the situation under control.
After listening to the words of the people in the hall, Mrs. Wei Chen regretted her gaffe, but at this point she had to bite the bullet and said: "Guan Xue has caused great suffering to our family. I beg you to issue an order to recover him. He will know it after the first trial."
.”
She also thought that it would be great if she could recover all the money. It would not matter if the people scolded her. They would still have to buy her family's grain and rice in the future.
Shen Rui nodded and said: "Anyone who defrauds property should be held accountable." After saying that, he ordered the clerk on the side to ask the servants of the Wei family about the appearance of Manager Xue, and Zhang Fahai arrested the clerk.
In fact, the whereabouts of Guanshi Xue were under the surveillance of the carriage and horse shop. When Zhang Ji's incident happened, the people from the carriage and horse shop immediately detained Steward Xue secretly and waited for Fucheng to take action.
The Wei family was not far from the government office. After a short while, the eldest son and second son of the Wei family, several servants and women, and two elders of the Wei family were brought to the hall.
When Wei Dalang heard that Mrs. Wei Chen dared to accuse him of being unfilial, he couldn't help but became furious. When he saw Mrs. Wei Chen in the hall, he wanted to strangle this bitch to death.
Officer Wei wanted to flee that day, intending to leave his two eldest sons behind and did not tell them anything at all.
Officer Wei died suddenly. When Wei Dalang rushed over, he found that his father was actually wearing ordinary civilian clothes. There was a strange fire in the accounting room over there, and the stepmother in the temple had disappeared earlier.
What else does Wei Dalang not understand? The old man wanted to run away, but he had made good arrangements for his young wife and young son, but he didn't let his brother know anything about it. It was obvious that he had abandoned the two of them!
Wei Dalang was naturally very angry, and after discussing with his second brother, they simply kicked Wei Chen, mother and son out of the mourning hall.
At this moment, Wei Dalang knelt down and preemptively questioned Wei Chen: "My father passed away suddenly, and I went to the temple to ask my wife to come back to preside over the funeral. How dare my wife tell the Lord in this hall where Xie was at that time?"
?!"
This was a question that Wei Chen could not avoid no matter what. She twitched on her face and could only say: "This is what your father ordered me to do."
Wei Dalang said with sarcasm, "Instruct a woman to take her son and some silver out of the city to Fushan?" He then pointed to a few male and female servants and asked them to report to the Lord how this woman behaved.
Naturally, those people said that Mrs. Wei Chen was not good enough and took advantage of the old man's serious illness to trick him into going out on his own, with the intention of taking the money and running away with the blood of the adulterer.
Wei Chen was so angry that she had already asked Wei Dalang to deal with the confidants outside the Wei Yuan who she said could testify for her. Wei Chen had no personal evidence, let alone physical evidence, so she had no choice but to put aside the harm to herself.
The topic turned to accusing the two stepsons of assassinating Yuan Wei.
Before the magistrate could ask any questions, the Wei family themselves started arguing in the hall.
Usually people who roar in court will be punished, but today the prefect seems to have no intention of taking care of it, and the people in the hall are also watching the excitement with great interest.
Sure enough, people tend to get carried away when they are impulsive, and the truth was revealed when they were arguing in the hall.
All Wei Chen's statements, whether "Wei Yuanwai ordered her to leave the city" or "Wei Yuanwai's sudden death may be caused by her second son", are all based on the fact that Wei Yuanwai was not sick at all.
Seeing that Mrs. Wei Chen could not defeat Wei Dalang, she would soon be able to falsely accuse her stepson.
Not to mention that false accusations are also subject to punishment. If she is found guilty of adultery, she will have no chance of survival. Moreover, she has not yet made a clear defense in front of the magistrate before making a fuss in front of Jishan Hall.
Mrs. Wei Chen wanted to stab the relative who came up with such a bad idea for her, but now she was riding a tiger and couldn't get any favors, so she decided to make a decision, thinking that Wei Dalang wanted to
She can't even get half of the family property, and he can't even hope to enjoy a huge fortune!
She immediately yelled that Wei Yuanwai was pretending to be ill, but the outsiders were pressing her too hard. Wei Yuanwai claimed that he was ill and ignored him, hoping that Jinan Prefecture would come to rescue him. Unexpectedly, Zhang Ji refused to help. Wei Yuanwai
Then they arranged for the mother and son to leave the city because they were afraid that something would involve them in the future.
Wei Dalang was not afraid that she would expose the fact that Wei Yuan was pretending to be sick. He believed that the crime of death was extinguished, and that Wei Yuan's behavior was murder and arson. As long as it was not a serious crime that killed the nine tribes, there was no reason for his son to be punished on his father's behalf.
But they never expected that the Wei and Chen family would count from back to front, how Zhang Ji, the leader, forced Wei Yuanwai, how much land Wei Yuanwai bought for Zhang Ji, how to record good land as bad land to evade taxes, and took advantage of the famine in the past two years.
Why did the price of rice go up? All kinds of illegal things were said, and he had the intention of trapping the entire Wei family to death.
There are many things said to be done by Wei Dalang.
Wei Dalang regretted it endlessly and hurriedly went back to make amends, but he couldn't explain it.
What Shen Rui was waiting for was the truth about Wei Chen.
It was a surprise that the Wei and Chen family had previously made a big fuss in Jishantang. They claimed that Wei Yuanwai was forced to death, sued his stepson for being unfilial, and that the Wei family had hidden land and hid taxes. They also committed several cases of price gouging and tried them together.
Wei Dalang was still struggling, refusing to recognize the hidden land, and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, on the day of the death of Cao Min's father, there was a leak in the house, and the study room, accounting room, this and this... some deeds and account books were also missing...
Destroyed together..."
He wanted to bite his back teeth and bite the bullet. Anyway, the deed to his family was burned, and the father who signed the deed and had his fingerprints printed was dead, so he could frame his family by falsely accusing the government officials of forging documents.
Shen Rui said calmly: "It doesn't matter, even if you can't believe the land deed registered in the county government office, the account books of Wei Ji Grain Store that were sealed that day are still there. You can ask someone to come to the government office to check."
Even with the account books of Wei Ji Grain Store, the Wei family could not explain the huge difference between the grain sold by Qing Liang Store and the grain produced by the family without purchasing grain from outside.
As for the undeeded land, if you insist that it is not yours and there is no grain collection account book to prove that your family has collected rent, then it means that it is ownerless land and should be returned to the county; if you say that it belongs to your family,
If there is no deed, but the rent is collected, and there is no tax payment record, then it will be considered as tax evasion, and half of your property will be confiscated.
Wei Dalang was sweating on his forehead. He was far inferior to his father. He didn't have the means, nor the confidence. He had no room to reply in a few words.
He could only say solemnly: "My father is still in mourning. I beg you, Sir, to ask Caomin to send my father to you, and then look for the deed book and account book in detail before I reply to you." He actually tried to use that trick.
Shen Rui became angry and said unceremoniously: "If there was any evidence to prove the source of grain and rice in your family, Wei Chunlai would have taken it out long ago. Then tell me, what do you mean by looking for deeds and account books again?"
Deeds and account books?”
Wei Dalang was speechless and couldn't say anything anymore. He could only think about which crime to plead guilty to and save more of his family property.
So he had no choice but to follow Wei Chen's words and blame the Wei family for hiding their land, hiding taxes, and driving up prices on Zhang Ji. Zhang Ji was forced to do so at every turn.
But even if someone instigated it, it was still the Wei family who committed the crime, so how could they escape punishment.
Especially the people outside who were listening to the trial were shouting and scolding the Wei family for being unscrupulous, and the mood was fierce.
The literary officials there wrote very hard, not only recording what Wei Chen said, but also the people's reactions were clearly written down one by one.
Shen Rui glanced at the clerk and breathed a sigh of relief. He could attach a dossier when handing over the document.
Although Zhang Ji fell, he blackmailed the Wei family and asked the Wei family to hide the tax on their land so that he could squander it and send it to Yang Tinghe. Yang Tinghe could make Jiao Fang, who had recommended Zhang Ji, suffer.
As for Zhang Ji's own pocket, those who were filial to Jiao Fang were far more than those who were filial to Liu Jin. However, this incident fell on "Liu Jin's request for bribes." Liu Jin had a bad reputation. Will Liu Jin be willing to accept the blame?
Liu Jin didn't expect that Zhang Cai, who was striving for a higher position, would also think of it for him.
Let's see how his father-in-law takes advantage of this matter. Shen Rui thought to himself.
More and more people are tried in court, and the case becomes clearer and clearer.
After the doctor who often treated the Wei family came to court, it was confirmed that Mr. Wei was pretending to be ill.
The servants, the abbot of Puzhao Temple and others proved that Wei Chen was indeed ordered out of the city by Wei Yuanwai, and that there was no unruly behavior among women.
In this way, it was confirmed that Wei Yuanwai was planning to abscond, and it was indirectly confirmed whether the Wei family was guilty or not. Why are you running away?
After interrogating more servants of the Wei family, witnesses testified that the Wei family had robbed and seized fertile farmland, and then reformed it into evading taxes.
The final verdict of the case was that the mother and son of the Wei Chen family returned to their own clan. Although Wei Dalang expelled his stepmother and brothers from the clan, there were reasons and misunderstandings, so he was not sentenced to a felony of unfilial piety. However, he was still sentenced to the crime of unfilial piety because he had damaged the reputation of the Wei Chen family and Wei Wulang.
After one year of labor service, no silver can be used as atonement.
The Wei Chen family made a big fuss in Jishantang. Their feelings are pitiable, but their behavior is still causing trouble. Fortunately, it did not cause particularly bad effects, so they were sentenced to three months in prison. They can redeem themselves in money after ten days.
The evidence of the Wei family's crime of hiding their land, hiding taxes, and driving up prices was conclusive. Wei Chunlai died, and the flogging with the cane was spared. Wei Dalang and Wei Erlang were more or less involved, and received fifty and thirty floggings respectively.
In addition, there are fines of silver and fields:
Because of hiding the land and paying taxes, all the hidden land of the Wei family was confiscated, and 30% of the Wei family's land was confiscated. The business tax on the land that had been short-changed in the past five years was required to be paid, and a certain amount of silver was fined.
Because the price of rice was driven up in the year of disaster, in addition to confiscating the price difference, a certain amount of rice grains were also fined. Since there was no record and the people who bought the grains could not be found to return them one by one, the fines and rice fines from each grain shop were put into the community warehouse of the district where they were located.
Benefit the people of this society.
The verdict was given, and the people outside listening to the trial all applauded.
When the yamen officials heard that the confiscated acres of land from the Wei family would also be used for the common people, and that the specific allocation of the hundreds of acres of land would be announced at the Jishan Hall monument erection ceremony tomorrow, the common people immediately rejoiced.
As people took to the streets after the retreat, the news spread quickly.
The next day, Jishan Hall was crowded with people inside and outside, and there were also people who came from nearby villages and towns outside the city. It was very lively for a while.
The ceremony of erecting a new merit monument was successfully held. After publicly announcing various projects to benefit the local area and the "disclosure of special accounts" system, Shen Ruiyino announced to the people how to deal with the confiscated farmland.
A total of 489 hectares of hidden land and acres of land were investigated in Penglai County. It is planned to allocate 100 hectares for government schools, county schools and other official schools. A scholarship system at all levels will be established to encourage students to study diligently, especially for poor students.
worries of life;
It is planned to establish Luban Academy and allocate one hundred hectares of land for the academy. The experimental field and the expenses of the academy will all come from this.
Although it is called "Luban", it is not just a craftsman's school. It is modeled after the Qingyi School in Beijing, and has established multiple schools for farming, commerce, carpentry, weavers, shipwrights, etc. It is not closed at the moment and is still responsible for a meal.
, if there is any work done, a certain amount of wages will be paid.
We will continue to promote Zhuzi's social warehouses and plan to allocate hundreds of hectares of farmland to subsidize the expenses of local social warehouses.
We will continue to recruit various types of "experts" and "teaching assistants", and it is planned to allocate fifty hectares of land to provide expert teaching assistants with a corresponding fee. It is planned to classify expert teaching assistants into grades according to their contribution, and pay monthly salary and allowances according to the grade.
To recruit medical talents from outside, it is planned to allocate thirty-nine hectares of land to provide certain subsidies to major drug stores and medical centers in Penglai, encourage doctors to improve their medical skills, set up a public welfare fund, open free clinics on a regular basis, and subsidize free clinic fees.
Another hundred hectares of farmland are temporarily returned to the county for various emergency purposes. If there are new projects, they will be allocated from this area.
When the people heard this, the mountains roared into the blue sky.
Some elders and squires clamored to build a shrine with Shen Qingtian, but Shen Rui refused and said that all the surplus money should be donated to Jishan Hall to continue to benefit the people.
The people were even more moved. After that, countless people offered longevity tablets to Shen Rui at home.
Three days later, Shen Lian's family arrived in Fucheng with a group of weavers and craftsmen from Songjiang Prefecture.
Luban Academy was officially established with a plaque.
At this time, the solar term has passed the Beginning of Summer, and farmers have also finished working on the land. People who had some free time flocked to Luban School one after another. Some wanted to learn a craft, some wanted to earn a living, and some simply wanted to save money on chewing food at home.
No matter what kind you use, Luban Academy will accept it.
Shen Lian temporarily replaced the headmaster of Luban Academy.
He was not ambiguous, and the first thing he took up was to lobby several major shops in Fucheng, and signed a "training" contract to train clerks, accountants, shopkeepers and other talents on his behalf.
Later, he signed a "labor" contract with shipbuilding docks, Lu family and other maritime merchants, and trained shipbuilding and ship repair craftsmen, as well as sailors and shipwrights, and started working immediately after completing their studies.
Finally, he signed a contract with the Lei family to jointly develop mountain silkworm cocoon silk fabrics. The finished products would be sold by the Lu family in Liaodong and overseas, and the profits would be divided into 33% and 40%.
At the same time, Penglai Weaving Factory was also under construction.
Since the Zhuzi Shecang was built in Fucheng and he wanted to rent looms to the common people who joined the society, Shen Lian planned to break up the weaving factory into parts. On the one hand, he would collect cloth from individual households, and on the other hand, he would set up small weaving factories in each workshop with only a few pieces of cloth. , more than a dozen looms were set up, and the female relatives in the workshop came to work.
Among them, Mrs. Liansi also came up with an idea, allowing female workers to work at home, with flexible working hours, and hiring a few kitchen workers to only take care of one meal, and help the female workers take care of the children at other times, or at low prices Collecting clothes for washing relieves many female workers from worries. Naturally, more skilled female relatives are willing to go out to work to supplement the family income.
Shen Rui was speechless after seeing this, and he was impressed by the business acumen of Shen Lian and his wife.
Some of them were actually things he had seen in his previous life, and he casually mentioned them to Fourth Uncle Lian. He didn't understand everything, and many of them just described the phenomena and gave some ideas.
Unexpectedly, Fourth Uncle Lian was very attentive and studied a set of methods suitable for the local people.
Thinking that Shen Lian's family would be stationed in Dengzhou permanently and could help him for a longer period of time, Shen Rui became more motivated and accelerated his plan to revitalize Dengzhou.
And just as Fucheng was promoting various projects in full swing, a large number of refugees arrived in Penglai.