Chapter 323 322 Handle

The days of trial are boring. The victim is constantly called to the court to cry and complain, and then the criminals he accuses are mentioned, and the witnesses and material evidence are put out one by one.

At first, Wei Guangde watched with great interest, learning how to interrogate a case, but soon he discovered that both He Qian and Bai Qichang were conducting the interrogation process very perfunctorily, and basically did not consider the criminal's defense.

But it's normal. As far as He Qian said, these are all people who must die. It doesn't matter whether he has committed any crimes or not.

Even with such a perfunctory approach, it took seven or eight days to review these petitions. This was because Wang Daoxing had begun to no longer accept new petitions.

Many people gradually began to believe that they were really going to be sentenced this time after seeing that the gang of villains who once ran rampant and arrogantly in Suzhou were actually imprisoned, so the number of people submitting petitions increased day by day.

Under such circumstances, Wei Guangde and others were called together by He Qian, and everyone quickly reached an agreement to continue to let the people of Suzhou file complaints. The New Year case would not be concluded, so Wang Daoxing was asked to block the people's complaints.

For those cases, in the first two days, He Qian came down and explained them to Wei Guangde, which was considered to be Wei Guangde's introduction and taught him some skills in trial and judgment. However, as time went by, there were too many cases, and He Qian became tired.

Wei Guangde didn't want to develop in the direction of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs were okay, and the last one was the Ministry of Works. After all, there was money.

The trial of scattered cases went directly to the Suzhou riot case.

For these criminals, what needs to be said has been said a long time ago, and everything that needs to be admitted has been admitted. The whole hall is like a child's play. More than 20 prisoners kowtowed in the lobby and begged for mercy, and repeatedly begged for life. In this By that time, they had long lost the majestic appearance they had in Suzhou City.

Wei Guangde sat there, watching the performances of these people. They just wanted to save a life. No matter whether they were sentenced to guard the border or released, no one wanted to be beheaded.

It is better to die than to live. They are not warriors who are not afraid of death and face death directly.

However, it was too late to kneel down and beg for mercy now. When they burned the edicts, symbols, flags and other items entrusted by Governor Yingtian, their fate was already sealed.

In a period when imperial power was supreme, these imperial gifts representing the emperor could not be desecrated. Emperor Jiajing might not take it seriously, but officials in the court could not take it seriously.

More than twenty criminals were brought to court one by one, and several days passed.

At this point, the main thing is to confirm the status of the criminal in the entire case, and to identify the mastermind and accomplices.

The evil young man armed with weapons to attack the governor's office was proposed on Tuesday and was also commanded by him. Although he did not have the highest status among the evil young men in the past, in this case he was the out-and-out mastermind.

Not only will he be beheaded, but his family will also be affected, and it is inevitable that his family will be confiscated and distributed.

After everyone had finished their crimes and had just rested for a day, the Suzhou magistrate's hall was raised again, and the verdict was announced. All the evil leaders of Suzhou, headed by Tuesday, were sentenced to beheading, and many of their families were implicated.

In the prison of the Zhejiang Inspectorate in Hangzhou Prefecture, Wei Guangde looked at the man lying on his side through the cell door. He called himself "King Hui" and was known as the "Five Peaks Shipowner". He was once an undisputed presence on the sea, and now he has become a member of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Zhi was imprisoned.

This man is Wang Zhi, but now he no longer has the high-spiritedness he had when he dominated the ocean. At this time, all that appears in front of Wei Guangde's eyes is a bleak figure.

He went from being Hu Zongxian's guest to a prisoner, and has been detained here for almost two years.

From being full of hope at the beginning to giving up completely, he already knew what his ending would be. He was just waiting for the last moment.

"it's him?"

Wei Guangde looked at the back inside and asked the accompanying officer.

The person who followed Wei Guangde here was a minister from the Zhejiang Procuratorate. The purpose of bringing Wei Guangde here was naturally to see people.

"Yes, Mr. Wei, the person lying inside is Wang Zhi."

A very direct answer. The people in the prison had already heard the conversation outside at this time. Their bodies shook slightly, but they did not turn around.

Wei Guangde did not know Wang Zhi. The so-called prison sentence was actually to confirm that the person in prison and the person who was finally executed were the same person.

Now Wang Zhi's back is turned to Wei Guangde, so that he can't see Wang Zhi's face clearly, which is not good.

"Come in, turn the person over so that I can take a look."

Wei Guangde has no intention of being polite to Wang Zhi. No matter what he was like before, he is already a person who has been sentenced to death by the court and will be executed soon. What's more, the Japanese pirates along the coast are indeed inseparable from him. .

When he was in the capital, Wei Guangde considered the overall situation and felt that he should not kill this person, but should recruit his subordinates to destroy other evil-doing Japanese pirate forces. However, since the court had already made a conclusion, he would naturally not say much because of his humble position. What, just execute the order.

But before the jailer opened the cell door, Wang Zhi inside had already turned around. He was not stupid. He couldn't resist in this place. Rather than being forcibly turned over by the jailer, he might as well take the initiative himself.

Of course, he was also curious as to who would come to the prison specifically to see him at this time.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhi couldn't help but feel something in his heart, and a bad premonition emerged.

The prison was very dark. Although it was broad daylight, there was only a small window on the six-foot-high wall, not much light coming in at all.

Fortunately, in order to illuminate Wei Guangde and others, the jailer placed an oil lamp on the wall along the way. The two jailers in front each held a lantern in their hands, so Wang Zhi could see Wei Guangde's appearance clearly at a glance.

Green robe, not high grade.

A new magistrate in Qiantang County?

That's not right, the prison he was taken to was not the prison of the Qiantang County Government, but the prison of the Zhejiang Procuratorate.

While Wang Zhi was still thinking wildly, the jailer opened the iron chain on the cell door. With the sound of the iron chain "clattering", the cell door was opened.

A jailer carrying a lantern and a sturdy jailer walked into the cell.

The jailer carrying the lantern was to illuminate Wang Zhi so that Wei Guangde and others could see Wang Zhi's face clearly outside the cell, so that they could confirm the signature during torture.

These will be submitted to the Ministry of Punishment for files afterwards.

He didn't look as ferocious as expected from a Japanese pirate leader. Wang Zhi looked very thin and his hair was shaggy. After all, in prison, who would have the energy to take care of it.

The skin looks a little sallow, like a person who has been traveling to the sea all year round. This is similar to the way Wei Guangde first saw Yu Dayou.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether it was because of the lantern or whether Wang Zhi was like this. After all, although he was a big pirate, he had been in prison for more than a year without seeing the light of day. Wei Guangde initially thought that he should be very white now. .

Wei Guangde just stood outside the cell door and took a closer look. He did not intend to go in and take a closer look. Instead, he turned around and ordered: "Go in and take a closer look."

After finishing speaking, Wei Guangde stood to one side and made way for the place in front of the cell door. Two officials wearing green robes like him and two captains walked into the cell one after another. They looked at Wang Zhi's appearance carefully, and then looked at him in another room. Under the illumination of a jailer's lantern, he recorded something in a booklet.

Wang should have guessed their origins by this time. It seems that the court finally chose not to let him go.

"well"

A long sigh came from the cell. Wei Guangde turned his head and looked over, only to see that Wang Zhi had closed his eyes at this time, and there were tears in the corners of his eyes under the light.

The people in the cell walked out of the narrow cell door one by one, and their first errand when they came to Hangzhou was completed.

"Crash."

The sound of the iron chain sounded again, and the iron lock was locked.

"Now that you know, what else do you have to say?"

Wei Guangde heard Wang Zhi sighing and asked casually.

In ancient times, prisoners who were about to be executed would still receive certain preferential treatment. The most common one was to ask the prisoner to order a table of reasonably sumptuous food and drinks. In addition, if he had any last words that were not excessive, or if he wanted to see his relatives, this would still be done. , without rudely refusing.

At this moment, Wei Guangde became curious as to whether this pirate leader, who was so famous on the sea, had any last words or unfulfilled wishes at this time.

To be honest, Wei Guangde is still very interested in Wang Zhi, but it is not because of his own value, but because Wang Zhi has been a maritime businessman for many years and has also done pirate work. He must be rich, and he does not know how much money he will have after his death. Will they all fall into the hands of his little chiefs or somewhere else?

Wei Guangde was a little jealous of Wang Zhi's family background, but he knew very well that he probably couldn't get these things, so he just had nothing to think about.

The businesses that Wang Zhi did must have accumulated a huge amount of wealth. Part of it would be used to support the tens of thousands of pirates under his command, but more of it must have been shared privately between him and other leaders.

Having money in their hands does not mean that they are all in Ming Dynasty.

As far as Wei Guangde knew, in the 32nd year of Jiajing, Wang Zhi's family in Daming was locked up and imprisoned by the local officials. It was not until Hu Zongxian took the people to Hangzhou that they were released from prison.

This may be one of the reasons why Wang Zhi chose to believe in Hu Zongxian.

Hu Zongxian's family received preferential treatment, but Wang Zhi could not transport the money he received back to his family. Most of the wealth was stored in the Japanese country.

During more than a year in prison, this wealth may have been divided up by his pirate leaders and Japanese daimyo.

Perhaps, before Wang Zhi died, they would say that they were keeping it temporarily for the big leader for safety, and then returned it to Zhao intact after the big leader came out of prison.

However, judging from the activities of various Japanese pirates who burned, killed, and looted in the coastal states of the Ming Dynasty over the past year or so under the pretext of saving Wang Zhi, we can see how serious they were about saving Wang Zhi, and their motives were very questionable.

Perhaps, just as Emperor Jiajing judged, after Wang Zhi was arrested and imprisoned, his power fell apart. The forces that were truly loyal to him suffered heavy losses in the siege of Zhoushan Cengang by Yu Dayou. He was no longer able to continue to control the sea. other Japanese pirate forces.

Wang Zhi is no longer useful.

Wei Guangde thought a lot at that moment, including coveting Wang Zhi's huge wealth and knowing that useless people would die. He guessed that Wang Zhi should also have thought of this, so it was said that he cooperated in almost the whole process of the trial, except for being determined not to Admit treason.

From beginning to end, Wang Zhi insisted that he was from the Ming Dynasty.

"hehe."

However, what Wei Guangde was waiting for was only a wry smile from Wang Zhi, "I hate myself, why did I believe the words of Hu Zongxian, a white-eyed wolf, and the pardon edict, haha."

"What pardon edict?"

Wei Guangde frowned slightly. When he checked Wang Zhi's files yesterday, he did not see any record of the pardon edict.

Since it is an imperial edict, it must have come from the West Garden of the capital. It is impossible for it to be made in other places.

"It's all lies. The purpose is to trick me here. Humph, I just feel sorry for my children. I don't know how they are now. Whether they have escaped the siege of the court."

Speaking of this, Wang Zhi's tears, which had been stubbornly kept in his eyes, rolled out.

"Are you talking about your adopted sons?"

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, "They are all good. Some fought to the death, and some ran away. They are all fate. You should think more about your family."

Wei Guangde said casually.

"I have nothing to do with them. We haven't seen each other for more than ten years. The worst that can happen is that they will be exiled. If they deserved to die, they would have died long ago."

Wang Zhi was still talking there, and the assistant of the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Department hurriedly whispered to Wei Guangde: "It's damp and unlucky here, sir, let's go out first. What's there to talk to him about?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Wei Guangde rolled his eyes, knowing that it was not appropriate to talk too much with Wang Zhi at this time, as there were people around him, although he was very interested in the "pardon edict" mentioned by Wang Zhi earlier.

In fact, Wei Guangde probably guessed something. This "pardon edict" was very likely something Hu Zongxian made to deceive Wang Zhi, but this matter could be big or small.

To put it in a small way, it was just a "trick", a strategy, and it successfully deceived Wang Zhi's trust.

To put it in a big way, it was a big deal, it was deceiving the emperor.

Even if Hu Zongxian wanted to use this trick, you had to submit a memorial to the capital and report it first.

But no, at least Wei Guangde saw the relevant records in the capital, and there was no relevant record in the examination documents of the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Office in Hangzhou Prefecture.

Obviously, the files were tampered with. Wang Zhi would not have said it, but he said it but it was not recorded, until later he was too lazy to mention it again.

The "pardon edict" made by Hu Zongxian was known to only a very small number of people. Because of the secretiveness, it was not discovered by Lu Bing's Jinyiwei.

When Wei Guangde walked out of the Zhejiang Provincial Surveillance Office prison, he was thinking whether to mention this matter to Lu Bing. There were also Jinyiwei people in his entourage, and they should have secret channels to contact the capital.

As for the purpose, what is the use of the words of a dying person?

Even if Wei Guangde reported the edict, Wang Zhi would still die, but it might implicate Hu Zongxian, but it is also possible that Emperor Jiajing would choose to let it go for the overall situation of suppressing the Japanese in Jiangnan.

However, if this matter came to Lu Bing's hands, he might talk to the Yan family and get Yu Dayou out of jail.

Now no one mentioned Yu Dayou's case, but no one said to release him. He was kept hanging and detained. The reason was naturally that the Yan family did not give in.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Wei Guangde was thinking in his mind, his face was uncertain.