Kneeling at the front was Wei Bifu, the former general magistrate of Guangzhou Prefecture. When he saw the thief Shangguan getting out of the sedan chair, he quickly reported loudly: "Wei Bifu and other Guangzhou civil and military officials have surrendered to see Mr. Liu."
Only then did Liu Xiang pay attention to the group of people in the darkness in front of the screen wall. He saw that there were dozens of people kneeling below. They were all crouching on the ground, not daring to breathe. His "official addiction" could not help but swell up, and he coughed.
He made a sound and said: "Who is kneeling down?"
Wei Bifu hurriedly said: "The guilty minister Wei Bifu has led the civil and military surrender of the first prefecture and two counties of Guangzhou to see you here."
When Liu Xiang saw that Wei Bifu's beard and hair were all white, and that even a man of his age was still trying to look servile, he couldn't help but secretly sigh: Fame and fortune are indeed good things to kill people! He said: "Get up and talk."
Wei Bifu took the lead and stood up tremblingly. The people behind him also stood up, bowing respectfully and not daring to look up.
A general judge is an assistant officer of the prefecture. He is usually responsible for specific affairs in one area. He is a big official in a prefecture. However, the largest official surrendered by Guangzhou Prefecture was just a general judge, which made Liu Xiang a little disappointed. Although the external intelligence
The Bureau has already said that there may not be too many local officials surrendering, but Liu Xiang still hopes that the Guangzhou prefect can surrender.
"Where's the prefect?"
Wei Bifu's body was trembling slightly and he said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Dong... resisted the heavenly soldiers and committed suicide by taking poison in Houya..."
This prefect Dong took office less than half a year ago. Being able to come to Guangzhou as a prefect was considered a good thing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and no one expected that it would become a life-threatening talisman.
"There are quite a few officials in Guangzhou, so how many of you are there?"
"Reporting to your lord, many of them are stubborn people. Some have committed suicide to resist the heavenly soldiers, and some have abandoned their official positions and do not know their whereabouts."
Liu Xiang nodded and said, "Let's go in and have a look."
When Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he formulated the "national standard for the construction of government offices at all levels across the country", so government offices in prefectures and counties all over the country were basically built according to the same form. When Liu Xiang traveled in the past, he visited the Hongdong County government office and Nanyang government office.
After that time, I also visited all the county and government offices on Hainan Island. Except for the differences in size and the exquisiteness of the buildings, the basic shapes were similar.
But this is the first time that he has taken over a government office as a winner. The taste is different again.
Wei Bifu hurriedly said: "Rong humble position will lead the way for you."
At present, Wei Bifu is leading the way. The front of the screen wall is an archway with the inscription "Chengxuanfang", and the left and right are "Shenming Pavilion" and "Jingshan Pavilion" respectively. After entering the door, there is a screen wall. The so-called Xiao wall. Bypassing the Xiao wall,
When he came to the courtyard, he saw the second Yimen. There are two courtyards on the left and right of the Yimen. To the east is the Yin Hotel, to the west is the Prison Secretary and the Earth Temple. Liu Xiang saw five or six people lying in front of the Prison Secretary's door.
He was surprised and asked, "What's going on?"
"Reporting to your lord, the heavenly soldiers came to the government office to release the prisoners and executed several jailers..." Wei Bifu said anxiously.
"Where are the prisoners?" Liu Xiang heard something was wrong. This was not included in the reception plan.
"The heavenly soldiers have already used their full strength..."
Liu Xiang's expression changed and he couldn't help but whisper: "Nonsense!"
Although Wei Bifu didn't hear what he said, he saw that his face suddenly became very ugly. He didn't know what touched his back scale, and he was frightened and quickly bowed lower.
Liu Xiang didn't care to talk nonsense with him. He called a naturalized cadre next to him: "Go to the security headquarters immediately and convey my order: Anyone who sees anyone wearing prison clothes or half-clothed on the street is suspected of being a prisoner."
Anyone who escapes from prison will be arrested."
"Yes! Chief!"
In any rebellion, every time a city is conquered, they will often "indulge all the prisoners" to show contempt for the old authority and embody benevolent governance. At the same time, they can also strengthen their own power. But this is not the case for the Senate. Even if there are prisoners in prison
There are many innocent people, and many are imprisoned for trivial "crimes." Among them are also a large number of real "criminals", from robbers and bandits to murderers and thieves... Not to mention the Guangzhou Prison and Shunde and Nanhai County Prisons
Different. The prisoners are from more than a dozen prefectures and counties throughout Guangzhou Prefecture. Once these people are released directly into the society, they will go home with no money and no food and clothing, and they will immediately become an unstable factor for social security.
When making the plan to enter the city this time, Liu Xiang paid special attention to the admission policy of the prisons at the government and county levels: "accept them as they are and do not process them for the time being." Unexpectedly, they were still disturbed.
He asked again: "Which army is here and who is responsible for receiving it? Call me the chief officer who leads the team!"
Wei Bifu saw that he looked unkind and quickly stood back. However, he saw the "fake Kun" officer who was the first to enter the government office just now trotted over. He stood at attention in front of the chief and raised his hand to his forehead - this was the Kun thief.
military salute. I heard him loudly say:
"Commander of the 1st Platoon of the 4th Company of the 4th Infantry Battalion, Second Lieutenant Wu Baliu."
"It was you who destroyed the prison, killed the jailer, and released the prisoners?"
"Yes!" Wu Baliu said loudly, "It is simply not a place for people to live inside, it is simply a living hell. The prisoners' hands and feet were so rotten in the shackles that they were covered in maggots. I saw there were a few more bodies wrapped in reed mats in the back.
The corpses were all bleeding from the orifices - the prisoner said that the jailers had gotten money and killed the people quietly in the past few days... I was so angry, is there any justice in this? Just kill the jailers and let the prisoners go.
Come on!" After saying that, he felt a little proud, as if he had done justice for heaven.
"You're stupid!" Liu Xiang shouted. When he saw the other party's shocked eyes, he realized that he had overreacted and softened his tone and said, "The jailer deserves his due for abusing and killing prisoners. Prisoners
There are those who have been wronged and those who have been wronged, and they have to be screened one by one. This is a matter for the national police and the courts, not your job!" He took a breath, "There are good people and bad people in this cell, you put the prisoners
If you let go of everything, who will go to the victims who have had their relatives killed and their money stolen? Who told you that there are all good people in the cell?"
"Well..." Wu Baliu scratched his scalp and said angrily, "I think it was wrong."
"How many prisoners did you let out?"
"No... I can't count..." he stammered, "When I opened the cell door, a lot of people rushed out. Now, there are only a dozen tortured and sick people left in the cell. First...
Chief... Chief, did I make a mistake..."
Liu Xiang said, "Your mistake will be dealt with by the army. You return to the army now and wait for the National Army to take over." After that, he turned back to Wei Bifu and said, "Keep going."
Wei Bifu was slightly reassured and did not dare to join in the fun anymore. He just led the way. After passing the Yimen, he could see a pavilion in the middle of the courtyard, called "Jie Shi Pavilion". This was also the shape formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang. Liu Xiang knew that the inner side of the stone was carved in the direction of the lobby.
It reads: "Your salary and salary are the blessings of the people; the people are easy to abuse, but the gods are hard to bully." On the outside, there are three words "Gong Sheng Ming" engraved on the outside.
There are official offices in the east and west of the main hall. To the east is the Jingli Department (in charge of receiving and issuing documents); to the west is the Zhaomo Office (in charge of collecting the files of the six rooms). Behind the main hall is the cabinet library that Liu Xiang is most concerned about.
——It has been sealed and guarded by soldiers. The rest of the place has also been sealed.
Liu Xiang asked a few questions and learned that the Yongping Treasury (Fu Treasury) had also been sealed and sent troops to guard it. There were no mistakes in the two things he was most concerned about in the government office, so he felt relieved.
After the lobby is the second hall, which is used for hearing general cases on weekdays. After passing the second hall, you will reach the flower hall - this is already the residential part of the government office. The flower hall is the place where the chief officials of the yamen hold public and private banquets and entertain guests. Some of them are not suitable for public trials.
Cases are sometimes conducted here. Therefore, the layout is more life-like, not as solemn as the lobby or the second hall.
But at this moment, the seats in the flower hall were messed up and it was a mess. There were several corpses on the ground, all covered with white cloth. There were naturalized citizen clerks guarding them.
"This is--"
"These are the bodies of Mr. Dong... Ni He's family members, waiting for inspection by your Excellency." Wei Bifu said quickly.
Liu Xiang nodded, and Zuo Zuo, who was waiting by the side, lifted up the white cloth and said flatteringly: "Please see, sir, it is indeed poison."
The deceased prefect was a middle-aged man, not wealthy, even a little old, and probably not from a wealthy family. Liu Xiang remembered that Lin Baiguang told him that Mr. Dong had a close relationship with Guangzhou and accepted "gifts" and gifts from Guo Yi.
"Subsidy" did not hesitate and turned a blind eye to the Senate's affairs in Guangzhou. He originally thought that a man like Mr. Dong would surrender, but he did not expect that he would commit suicide so decisively.
"Dong Ni's follower is waiting for orders in the corridor. Do you want to call him over for questioning?" Wei Bifu asked.
"good."
Wei Bifu quickly waved at the steps of the flower hall, and a middle-aged man ran in from the corridor. When he came in, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Liu Xiang: "I say hello to the great master."
"Get up." Liu Xiang waved his hand, "Are you Mr. Dong's follower?"
"Yes, slave Dong Qing."
"Do you recognize any of the corpses here?"
"Yes, they were all buried by slaves and slave women." Dong Qing looked sad, "It was Master Dong, Mrs. Dong, Mrs. Dong's personal maid and Master Dong's nephew. They all committed suicide by taking poison."
Liu Xiang sighed, waved his hand and said, "Find a few coffins and bury them as soon as possible."
"Yes, thank you for your grace." Dong Qingyou knelt down and kowtowed several times.
Liu Xiang asked again: "Is there anyone else in his family?"
Before Dong Qing could answer, Wei Bifu rushed over and said: "There is also an aunt and a young lady, and several other maids and servants. They are all detained in the back. They are under the supervision of someone in their humble position and are not allowed to commit suicide. They are waiting for the adults to deal with them."
"Oh?" Liu Xiang was a little surprised. He had participated in public security wars and destroyed many strongholds of powerful landlords. After each stronghold was broken, not only the owner's family members, but also the maids and maids would commit suicide for fear of being humiliated. So every time he broke the stronghold,
The village will send a special team to intercept and dissuade. (To be continued.)