When Yi Shiha returned to Xingzai, he heard the woman Liu's mournful wailing.
The woman shouted: "No wonder the bitch, they all gave instructions. Teaching the bitch to listen to them will be beneficial. The bitch is just a weak woman, otherwise how could she be willing to taint her innocence?"
She cried loudly, as if this was not a false accusation, but a great injustice.
Yi Shiha's head ached just listening to it.
Immediately afterwards, the old man's voice came again. This man of seventy or eighty years old, who was still out of breath, now seemed to be full of energy: "Old man, old man was also deceived by them... It's the prefect Chen Jia, that is.
Your Majesty, Chen Jia instigated the old man... He is old and his eyesight is dim. He doesn't understand anything. He was just instigated by others. Really... really..."
As he spoke, he sobbed.
In the blink of an eye, the false accusers seemed to have become victims.
Only Chen Jia and other government officials looked miserable.
Zhu Di curled his lips and sneered. Looking at the ugliness of these people, disgust flashed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but ask: "What is the truth? What is it?"
Don't wait for Chen Jia to open her mouth.
The governor of Raozhou Prefecture behind him bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the truth...the truth is that...the government office deliberately invited officials from the Railway Department in the name of mediation, and then...set a trap.
Give me an excuse and teach you a lesson."
After Zhu Di heard this, his face turned pale and he said sternly: "Why is that so?"
Chen Jia's face looked extremely ugly.
At this time, it doesn't matter whether others say it or not. There are many people who want to say it on his behalf.
But at this moment, Chen Jia suddenly roared: "Because if the Railway Department continues like this, Raozhou Prefecture... will die without a burial place! If this continues, much land will be barren and no one will cultivate it. Within the Prefecture, all industries will be depressed, and the people will die.
They all went to the Railway Department. But Raozhou has become a dead city! Could it be that... the Railway Department moved the people to the railway line and allowed the prefectures and counties to decline, was that your Majesty's original intention?"
He became more and more excited and said: "Since last year, there were still 7,900 military and civilian households in Raozhou Prefecture, but now there are only 3,700 households left. The amount of population migration is astonishing. The prefecture and city are like this.
This is especially the case in the counties. Zunqiao Township under Raozhou Prefecture originally had 3,900 households, but now, they support the old and the young, and are instigated by the Railway Department. In the end, the remaining households are only over 2,000."
His lips trembled as he continued: "Without so many people, much land will be barren. No one cares about this great fertile land. Everyone is running to the railway company. The government's taxes have been levied as much as this year."
, it’s not even half as good as in previous years. This railway department... in one day, there will never be peace in Raozhou Prefecture!"
He changed his frightened look just now and spoke with awe and plausibility.
After Zhu Di heard this, he looked at him indifferently without saying a word.
Zhang Anshi actually had a slight misunderstanding. It seemed that Chen Jia was not just a corrupt official who made false accusations and had evil intentions to kill people, but instead looked like a scholar-bureaucrat who cared about the country and the people.
At this time, Chen Jia then said sadly: "The land is barren, the people are displaced, the grain production is reduced, and the grain tax is also reduced, and people are panicked. This is how I have felt in the past two years in Raozhou Mansion. If I just sit back and watch
If you ignore it, then the prefect... wouldn't he become a laughing stock? The prefect's duty is to report to the country and provide peace and order to the people, so why can't I do anything?"
His stern rhetorical question actually silenced many people.
Zhang Anshi frowned in disgust, feeling that this guy was just quibbling, but after all, he was at a loss for words, so he didn't know how to refute.
Zhu Di continued to look at Chen Jia coldly.
It has to be said that Chen Jia's words finally calmed down the officials who were about to rebel, as well as the woman Liu and the elders.
They obviously agreed with Chen Jia. Although it was a false accusation, under Chen Jia's righteous words, it seemed that what they did was actually loyal and courageous. At this time, they all kept silent and no longer shied away.
responsibility.
After this short silence, someone couldn't help but chuckle.
When everyone looked around, it was Hu Guang.
Hu Guang strolled out. Except for the mocking chuckle at the corner of his mouth, his face looked very cold today, his eyes were not filled with anger, and he opened his mouth and said, "Is this really true?"
A drop of cold sweat slid down Chen Jia's forehead, but he gritted his teeth and looked at Hu Guang with gritted teeth. In his opinion, today's defeat was all because of Hu Guang, the traitor.
At this moment, I just wanted to eat Hu Guang's flesh.
"Why isn't that the case?"
Hu Guangdao: "No one is cultivating the huge fertile fields, so that the grain production is greatly reduced. Then I would like to ask, our people in the Ming Dynasty have relied on the land for their livelihood for generations. I don't know how many people are only good at farming. Such a large number of people are only good at farming."
The fertile farmland is right here, why don’t they go to farm it, but would rather leave their homes and work as coolies?”
After hearing this, Chen Jia said: "It's because...because of the confusion of the Railway Department...it's because..."
Hu Guang interrupted him and shouted: "I don't think so. Since Governor Chen said it was because of the railway department's deception, are all these countless people hopelessly stupid? If it was just deception, how could they actually do it?
Are you so stupid as to be so ignorant?"
Chen Jia: "..."
Hu Guang sneered and said: "There is a lot of fertile land that no one is cultivating. As a prefect, you do not look for the real reason, but impose it on the railway department and ignorant people. How dare you call yourself a parent official?"
If the people really had fertile fields to cultivate, and all the food they cultivated would be their own, without the need for labor or rent, and they would only need to pay some money and grain to the court, then they would be able to live a prosperous and peaceful life. Who would be willing to leave their hometown, and who would be willing to take their wives with them?
Take me to the railway company like a refugee?"
Chen Jiadao: "What does Hu Gong mean by this?"
"That's what I mean." Hu Guangdao: "You don't know that the people are in trouble. The people have to leave their hometowns. You don't look for the real reason. What you feel sad about is just that all the people have left their hometowns, which has caused the local gentry to lose their jobs.
There is no one to rent the land. Is this your so-called benevolence and virtue? Is it your duty? Where are the common people you are thinking about? It’s just... hundreds of thousands of gentry families in Raozhou Prefecture! "
"Now that their interests have been harmed, you have no choice, so you set up a conspiracy to kill the officials of the Railway Department. After the incident, you were afraid of crime, so you secretly organized people to make false accusations. You are so crazy, so shameless and despicable, you dare to
In front of His Majesty, you pretend to be the official of your parents. People like you are worse than animals, yet you dare to make sophistry here."
Chen Jia's forehead was dripping with sweat.
Hu Guang did not intend to let it go, and continued angrily: "The most evil people in the world are not just reckless men who kill innocent people indiscriminately. It is precisely you who kill people while pushing them into a pit of fire that will never be restored."
, but still relies on his eloquent words and the literary words in his belly to talk about righteousness and shameless villains!"
"A villain who kills innocent people indiscriminately can at least teach the world his true colors and make people despise him. But a shameless and despicable villain like you can always use hypocrisy to deceive the ignorant.
, to achieve your sinister purpose."
Chen Jia opened her mouth, as if she wanted to refute, but was speechless.
Hu Guang then said: "Your Majesty, in this case, the evil officials headed by Chen Jia are the most shameless. The court should severely punish them as a warning to others! I think... Chen Jia's crimes are too numerous to be recorded, so we should be vigilant when the clan is wiped out."
people of future generations.”
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Di couldn't help but become energetic.
He took a deep look at Hu Guang.
But I couldn't help but sigh in my heart.
At this time, Zhu Di felt that Hu Guang did have many extraordinary qualities.
Of course...Zhu Di obviously also saw another side of Hu Guang.
That is, even though Hu Guang was so angry, he actually... chose to be tolerant.
Yes, on the surface, Hu Guang begged His Majesty to carry out genocide against Chen Jia, which is certainly the most severe punishment.
But don’t forget that Chen Jia has many party members, and Chen Jia cannot handle this matter alone.
Logically speaking, this was such a serious false accusation, and it was also a conspiracy, and the person killed or injured was an official of the Railway Department. If severe punishment was imposed, all those involved in this matter would be exterminated, and no one would be able to escape.
However, Hu Guang only begged Chen Jia's clan to be exterminated. To a certain extent, he was also telling Zhu Di that Chen Jia was the bandit leader and should be punished with death. As for other party members, the punishment must be inferior.
Zhu Di turned his eyes, squinted, and looked at Chen Jia, with a deep coldness in his eyes.
At this time, Chen Jia was like an egg that had been peeled off by Hu Guang. It seemed that even the last layer of moral fig leaf was gone. At this time, she couldn't help but feel extremely scared.
The word "annihilation of the clan" was like a bolt from the blue, so that the righteousness he had just shown finally disappeared, and what appeared next was deep fear.
In fear, he said tremblingly: "I am dead, I beg...your majesty to give me a lighter sentence."
His voice was trembling and pleading.
Zhu Di said decisively: "According to Hu Qing's report, in order to serve as a warning to others, his clan will be exterminated."
After hearing this, Chen Jia suddenly felt that her whole body was turned into mud, and she suddenly collapsed.
The woman and the elder were even more frightened and hurriedly apologized.
Zhu Di ignored them and turned to Yisheha: "Are all the witnesses outside still there?"
Yi Shiha then said: "Your Majesty, I will go again."
Immediately, he left the place, and after a while, he trotted back with a roster in his hand.
Yi Shiha presented the list and said: "Your Majesty, this is the list of all the people who want to give perjury to the prefect Chen Jia. There are 372 people with names and surnames. They are all called local railway department personnel.
They saw it with their own eyes on the street when the murder was committed."
Zhu Di took over the roster, glanced at it lightly, and said sarcastically: "It seems that none of them have been wronged?"
Yisheha said: "I was afraid that someone would be wrongly accused, so when I registered, I was cross-examined by the teacher, whether I was here to testify, and whether I wanted to prove...that someone from the Railway Department committed the murder, and these people...were all serious about it, saying so.
.”
Zhu Di nodded indifferently, and then said: "Take hold of them, turn around and ransack their homes, and assassinate all of them, young and old..."
Zhu Di paused here.
Zhang Anshi suddenly became energetic and quickly raised his face, as if your majesty is looking at me and your majesty is looking at me.
Zhu Di said casually: "Assassin Xinzhou."
Zhang Anshi felt comfortable all over, and his heart felt as sweet as honey.
There are more than 300 more households!
Don't underestimate these three hundred households, each household is different.
Ordinary people may have a few people in a family, but if it is a family with a deep foundation, the family is divided into large, second, third and fourth houses. Even sons are divided into legitimate sons and concubines.
A maid gives birth to a son, and in addition, many people often settle in their homes in order to join such a family. Some families have hundreds of people in one family.
If nothing else, the household registration books of these so-called witnesses are relatively thick.
This is the main reason why Zhang Anshi is looking forward to it.
Zhang Anshi immediately said: "Your Majesty has such trust in me, I... am really grateful to you. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will discipline them well and teach them the consequences of... falsely accusing others."
Zhu Di was not very interested in this. Since the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, a huge benefit is that manpower, which was originally worthless, has become so popular.
You must know that in the past, the court was most worried about the danger of people becoming refugees. But now, it is worried that there is insufficient manpower, and even criminals will become easy prey.
After hearing this, the woman and the elder had already turned pale. It was obvious that their household registration books were relatively thick. Although they had avoided the end of the family's annihilation, in their view, a family with a thick household registration book suddenly wanted to assassinate Wanli.
Besides, this is almost the same as the annihilation of the clan. In fact, it is not much different.
The old man only felt that his eyes were darkened, but he did not expect that when he was about to die, he would harm his descendants.
As for the woman, she suddenly stopped crying, as if she had suddenly lost her soul. She just knelt on the ground numbly, bowing her head and saying nothing.
Zhu Di didn't care about this, and only said: "Get the people immediately, don't let anyone go."
As he spoke, he clicked on the roster.
I also lost my understanding.
Not long after, the business was still lively outside. There were more than 300 people, and it seems that many of them were familiar with each other. Therefore, everyone was here, bored, waiting to testify, or to make signatures later.
After waiting for a long time, I couldn't help but get impatient, so I gathered together in small groups and chatted.
"Somehow... I haven't been summoned yet."
"Prefect Chen didn't say that at the beginning. He said he would go in soon and sign and sign..."
"Hey... this is a royal trial. You need some time, don't be in a hurry..."
"Those damn railway officials are really hateful..."
While everyone was talking, someone suddenly shouted: "Look what that is?"
But somewhere in the street, suddenly a dense crowd of Railway Department escort officers and soldiers were holding open fire, and they directly pressed forward.
For a moment, there was some commotion in the crowd. Some people noticed that something was wrong, and subconsciously wanted to avoid trouble. They looked up, but found that there was no way out at this time.
"It's incredible, it's incredible..."
The person who originally wanted to run away found that there was no way to go, so he knelt on the ground and shouted: "What happened..."
Someone else said sadly: "It's unfair, it's unfair..."
For a moment, the voices were noisy, but soon, the voice became shrill and shrill, and then... all the voices died down.
The capture went extremely smoothly, even a little too smoothly. Almost all the prisoners were gathered together. They had their names and surnames, and they had already been registered. All they needed to do was round them up from all directions, and they would be captured in a blink of an eye.
.
"Your Majesty..." Yi Shiha hurriedly came to report: "All the imperial prisoners have been captured."
Zhu Di was calm and relaxed. He was not angry because of this. He just said: "This is good, it saves a lot of effort."
Outside, there were some noises.
But a eunuch came in a hurry, looking hesitant.
Zhu Di frowned and said, "What's the matter?"
The eunuch then said: "Your Majesty, there are a few people outside here... not imperial prisoners, but people from the medical school... They... they came with a few injured officials...?
Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi.
Zhang Anshi couldn't help but feel ashamed. Originally, this move was Zhang Anshi's plan to carry these seriously injured officials to let His Majesty see with his own eyes the ruthlessness of those imperial officials, in order to win His Majesty's sympathy for the Railway Department.
But what Zhang Anshi didn't expect was that Hu Guang's combat effectiveness today exploded.
The battle was already over before Zhang Anshi could do anything bad. The current layout and arrangement seemed superfluous and even a little ridiculous.
At least Hu Guang, who was standing aside, frowned severely.
Just kidding, when I went to inquire about the injury yesterday, I saw people like Hu Mu, who were wrapped like rice dumplings. The doctor repeatedly said that we must pay attention to rest now and not disturb the patient. He also said that he must rest.
But you, Zhang Anshi, are lucky enough to take people out and parade them through the streets today?
Hu Guang felt distressed, but it was hard to say anything at this time.
Since he was the one who started it, he couldn't pretend that he didn't know it. Zhang Anshi hurriedly said awkwardly: "Your Majesty... these... these people... are my... minister's arrangements. I... I am thinking... they have suffered like this."
We must let them...participate in the imperial trial for their grievances, so that they can see with their own eyes that great revenge will be avenged..."
Zhang Anshi finally found an excuse that he thought was justifiable.
Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi speechlessly. Although Zhang Anshi said it in a high-sounding way, who knew his little thoughts?
Not to mention someone as smart as Zhu Di!
After a brief moment of silence.
Zhu Di finally said: "Bring it in, I want to see it now that it's here."
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Anshi breathed a sigh of relief.
Not long after, a dozen doctors were seen carrying people in on stretchers.
I saw that person, covered with a white sheet. If the sheet hadn't covered his face, it would have almost made people think... this was a funeral scene.
One look at this dazzling sheet makes one feel unlucky from the bottom of his heart.
Zhang Anshi also noticed that something was wrong, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed on his face. He opened his mouth to explain, but when he thought about it carefully, it seemed that the more he explained, the more confused he became, so he might as well... just stay silent.