Chapter 322 321 Case Trial

Amid the howling north wind, the territory of the Ming Empire cooled rapidly from north to south, and it was time for the Grand Canal to be closed again.

The grain ships and other merchant ships had already chosen to go south early to avoid the severe cold from the north. If they continued to stay in the north, they would inevitably be frozen.

At this time on the Grand Canal, a fleet was driven south by the north wind, and few other ships were seen before and after.

The leading large ship of this fleet was flying flags and hanging various ceremonial guards, all of which revealed that it was an official ship.

Some of the dozen large and small ships behind were obviously official ships, and people in official uniforms could be seen walking around on the bow from time to time, but more merchant ships were occupied by boatmen in ordinary civilian clothes.

After the news that Wei Guangde was going south to do business spread in Beijing, Wei Guangde prepared for the ceremony and arranged household affairs while sending people to the Ministry of Rites to collect various documents and ceremonial guards, just to set off before the canal froze.

For the merchants who had been preparing to run the last cargo of the year and were waiting to return to Jiujiang for the holidays, they immediately sent people to contact Wei Guangde like sharks smelling blood, with the purpose of going south together.

This was not the first time, and Wei Guangde nodded and agreed.

This trip was also very different for Wei Guangde.

The two times he was sent out of Beijing to do business, his identity was only a deputy envoy, and there was a chief envoy above him. This time he was no longer a deputy envoy, but represented the Metropolitan Procuratorate to go south to participate in the case.

Because he had been prepared before, Wei Guangde accepted the order from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It can be imagined that the envious and jealous eyes of his colleagues at that time, and there were many people who wanted to replace him.

Going out of Beijing to do business as an imperial envoy and a supervisory censor is a job that most censors in the Metropolitan Procuratorate dream of, and it can be said that it is the time of infinite glory for the censors.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were often books that recorded words like "inspector censor" and "supervisory censor". In fact, they all refer to the same type of people, namely, the censors of the Metropolitan Censorate.

The reason why there are different names is that their tasks are different.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Metropolitan Censorate had thirteen supervisory censors. They had to take turns to go out of Beijing to inspect the local areas. When they inspected, they were inspectors; when they returned to their respective roads after the inspection and engaged in a special task, they were also called supervisory censors.

The roles of supervisory censors and inspectors were interchangeable, and daily supervision and inspection were also interconnected.

The task this time was to supervise the trial of the criminals involved in the case in Suzhou and the supervision of the execution in Hangzhou, which was different from the previous border patrol in the north.

The fleet moved very quickly. Like last time, after leaving Yangzhou and entering the Yangtze River, the fleet was divided into two teams. One team went upstream to return to Jiujiang Prefecture, while Wei Guangde's official ship went down the river to enter the Jiangnan Canal, which is the Zhenjiang to Hangzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

The fleet docked at Suzhou Wharf, and Yingtian Governor Weng Dali brought Suzhou prefect and other officials to greet them. Officials from Nanjing who came to participate in the trial had already arrived, but they were all waiting for the trial in the prefect's office and did not come to greet them. After all, they were all imperial envoys who were ordered to handle the case.

Wei Guangde got off the boat first and greeted the officials on the shore. As for Weng Dali, Wei Guangde only took a second look. His official position was already unstable, but because he made timely and appropriate remedies later, he was not removed from his position, but it would be soon.

In fact, when Wei Guangde went south, the court had already discussed who would replace him as Yingtian Governor. I think after the end of the year, after the official assessment, he should be dismissed and return home.

Weng Dali's friends in Beijing also sent him news. He knew that his official career was probably over, but Weng Dali still made great efforts to welcome Wei Guangde this time, hoping to get more useful information from Wei Guangde.

He had heard that although Wei Bianxiu's official position was not high, he still had a high status in Xiyuan.

The practice of civil officials ranking by seniority when meeting each other was not performed at Suzhou Wharf today, which was really inappropriate.

There was a custom for civil officials in the Ming Dynasty to introduce themselves when they first met, that is, they would introduce themselves, such as which year they passed the imperial examination, who their teacher was, and who their teacher was, so that they could establish a relationship.

However, Weng Dali saw that his resignation was a foregone conclusion, so it was meaningless to say these empty words. After a few simple greetings, he invited Wei Guangde to get on the sedan chair that had been prepared long ago and go to the Suzhou prefectural government.

After his governor's office was burned down by the evil young man, he just found a temporary courtyard to live in, and he had no intention of re-inspecting the governor's office. It was better to wait for the next governor to take over the matter.

That night, the front and back halls of the Suzhou prefectural government were filled with lanterns and candles. Officials from Nanjing and local officials in Suzhou were all present, which could be regarded as a welcoming banquet.

At this banquet, Wei Guangde also met other officials who participated in the trial, He Qian, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Bai Qichang, the junior minister of the Nanjing Dali Temple.

He Qian was quite enthusiastic about Wei Guangde. They were all from Jiangxi, and the most important thing was that the person who arranged for him to come here to try the case was Wei Guangde's old acquaintance, his old leader Weng Pu.

After the Battle of Bao'an Prefecture, Weng Pu was transferred from the assistant minister of the Ministry of War to the minister of the Ministry of Justice in Nanjing soon after, and he came to Nanjing to retire.

Although the power of the minister in Nanjing was not as great as that in Beijing, his level was raised after all, and Weng Pu was old and no longer had the intention to continue to make progress.

When he heard that the censor sent by the Capital Censorate was Wei Guangde in the Suzhou Prefecture incident, he was a little surprised, so he sent Wei Guangde's fellow countryman over, and He Qian taught Wei Guangde some methods of local criminal cases.

After the banquet, Wei Guangde went back to the resting place and had a good sleep.

He had spent the previous days in the cabin, and Wei Guangde had not yet fully adapted to the short half-day. Lying in bed, he felt as if he was still shaking on the boat.

The next day, Wei Guangde got up and washed with Zhang Ji's help, and still moved his hands and feet in the yard and exercised as if at home.

During breakfast, Wei Guangde said to Zhang Ji: "People will go out to inquire about the news today, tell them not to rush, first find out the situation below, and then contact the merchants on the list to learn more details."

"Master, don't worry, I have assigned the tasks according to the instructions before. Everyone has their own prefectures and counties to be responsible for, and the Jiujiang merchants to be contacted have also been assigned. There will be no mistakes."

Zhang Ji replied hurriedly.

Just like last time, the night before Wei Guangde was about to leave, Chen Ju, who had not been seen for a long time, came to the door again quietly.

Wei Guangde did not show any impatience, but received him warmly as usual.

Wei Guangde also had his own guesses about the purpose of his visit. Just like before, it might be that the person in Xiyuan asked him to learn something while doing his job.

Sure enough, after sending others away, Chen Ju explained the purpose of his visit to Wei Guangde in detail.

Emperor Jiajing wanted to know the current situation of the additional taxes and lijin in Jiangnan and the reaction of the people to it.

Wei Guangde could understand this.

As far as he knew, the additional taxes and lijin made some farmers who were already financially stretched bankrupt, and they could only sell their land and become tenants. The lijin tax in Jiangnan, a flexible commercial tax, further increased the burden on merchants. Many small merchants no longer went out to do business because the cost was too high and there was no profit.

Of course, the difficulties faced by merchants were also what Wei Guangde heard from Jiangxi merchants.

People who do business naturally have their own business partners, and they often hear similar complaints.

However, Wei Guangde disagreed with this.

Although there are fewer people doing business, there are still people doing it, which means it is still profitable. It's just that big businessmen have occupied part of the market of small businessmen.

In fact, Wei Guangde is not concerned about what Emperor Jiajing wants him to do, but whether there is a hidden meaning behind it.

Is Emperor Jiajing beginning to be dissatisfied with Hu Zongxian or is he really concerned about the suffering of the people?

However, Chen Ju did not give Wei Guangde an answer, which made Wei Guangde realize that perhaps his relationship with Chen Ju seemed to have ended here.

Although he was puzzled, Wei Guangde could only send Chen Ju out.

After that, it was natural to arrange how to complete the task assigned by the emperor.

As for the people's emotions about the increase in taxes and labor service, they could only arrange for the servants to go to the local area to inquire about the situation. There was no shortcut, but for lijin, they could inquire with businessmen, which was easier to do.

After listening to Zhang Ji's assurance, Wei Guangde nodded and started to eat breakfast.

There were quite a few people following Wei Guangde southward this time, including officials from the Xingren Division and the Ministry of Rites. No one would notice that there were a few less people in Wei Guangde's entourage, after all, they were not from any government office, but just Wei Guangde's servants.

Today, the lobby of the Suzhou prefectural government office seemed very crowded. In the past, there was only one case on top, but now there are three cases placed side by side.

After the three groups of officials stood down in the lobby, Wei Guangde followed He Qian and Bai Qichang out from the back.

Wei Guangde's position was the desk on the far right, He Qian sat in the middle, and Bai Qichang was on the left.

And on both sides of the three desks, there were two smaller desks, where Yingtian Governor Weng Dali and Suzhou prefect Wang Daoxing were already sitting.

After a few simple greetings, everyone sat down.

At the banquet last night, Wei Guangde heard that whether it was He Qian or Bai Qichang, they all wanted to close the case as soon as possible so that they could return to Nanjing for the New Year.

Although the Suzhou case has a great impact, the facts are clear, the evidence is conclusive, the evidence is complete, and the criminals have confessions. In fact, there is no need for trial to judge.

A group of evil young men headed by Zhou Er have committed many evil deeds in Suzhou Prefecture over the years, and the people are resentful. Now they are about to be executed, and the people of Suzhou are naturally excited and applaud.

Look, the case has not yet been tried, but many civilians have gathered outside the prefectural government office.

In fact, in these days, the Suzhou prefectural government office has received many civil complaints, all of which are complaints about the oppression suffered by Zhou Er and others in the past, but most of these cases were left unresolved at that time. Now there is an opportunity, naturally there are grievances and revenges, and they come to sue.

It is also because of these complaints that Bai Qichang complained to Wei Guangde during the meal that there are so many complaints, and it is unknown how long it will take just to summon the plaintiffs, witnesses, and prisoners.

There are complaints from the public. At this critical juncture, officials like them have to accept them. Although they know that even if these grievances are confirmed, the criminals will still die. It is impossible to let people die several times.

"This is the procedure, the procedure for handling cases. Even if Zhou Er is guilty of a heinous crime and is already sentenced to death, we still have to accept other people's complaints and make judgments.

Originally, a very simple case has been complicated."

After the banquet, when everyone went back to the room to rest, He Qian complained to Wei Guangde and taught Wei Guangde some common sense about trial.

Not only was he worried that Wei Guangde did not understand the procedure, but mainly because Weng Pu had repeatedly reminded him before he left Nanjing.

Wei Guangde impeached several people in the capital, but impeachment is one thing, and trial is another.

He Qian was sent here because they are both from Jiangxi. It is possible that they will support each other in their official careers in the future. He Qian is only 40 years old now, and he can still stay in the officialdom for more than ten or twenty years. It is also possible that he will be transferred from Nanjing to the capital in the future.

Weng Pu really has nothing to say about Wei Guangde.

Soon, a large pile of petitions was brought up by the yamen runners and placed on the desks of the three people. At this time, Wei Guangde was also shocked.

One petition is a plaintiff. How many people are there? It is estimated that there are petitions from hundreds of people.

Of course, these petitions are not all against Zhou Er, but also against other people in this case, but this is also extraordinary.

There are more than 20 main criminals and main accomplices. On average, each person has dozens of petitions. This is just the people who come to complain. It is estimated that most people know that these people will die, so many grievances have not been reported to the prefectural yamen.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but look at Weng Dali and then at Wang Daoxing.

Weng Dali's action to crack down on the evil youngsters was indeed correct, but he didn't expect that these evil youngsters would rebound so fiercely when they suddenly heard that the government was going to punish them because they were used to being domineering for a long time.

Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Weng Dali in his heart. He was a good official who worked for the people, but unfortunately he was unlucky.

At this time, Weng Dali and Wang Daoxing both had red faces.

So many petitions can only show that when they were in office, Suzhou was not peaceful.

Weng Dali could explain it well. After all, he had just taken over as the governor of Yingtian for a short time, and he also discovered the problems in Suzhou Prefecture. It was just that he handled it improperly, which led to the incident to an irreversible outbreak.

But Wang Daoxing was not like that. He had been the governor of Suzhou for a long time, and he naturally knew these things, but because of the background and relationship of these people, he was often restrained in dealing with them.

"The county magistrate who ruined the family, the prefect who wiped out the clan", although this is what they said, it was only for ordinary people, or some people in the middle and lower classes, who had no connections and no background.

And Zhou Er's group, not only themselves, but also the families behind them have long woven a huge network of relationships in the local area over the years, and they often secretly care about each other.

Wang Daoxing once tried to arrest a few of them, but the result was that the entire Suzhou Prefecture was almost out of control, so he had to let go.

He almost reached the point where he could not use the people in the prefectural government, so he slowly placed his own people, and finally successfully saved his career in this riot and suppressed the riot.

"Let's start."

Looking at the petition in front of him, He Qian shook his head gently, looked around and spoke.