Suddenly so many people knelt down, Gao Li and others were stunned for a moment, with expressions of disbelief in their eyes.
In Fengxia Village, no one dares to go against the Gao family. They dare not speak a word about the Gao family in front of or behind them, but now they are reporting them to the government office.
"You're talking nonsense," Gao Zhengfa came to his senses first and said immediately, "It's a false accusation... It's a false accusation... You... colluded with the emigrants. How much benefit did the emigrants give you?"
"Sir," the villager behind Meng Gao took a few steps on his knees and exposed his hand. Only three fingers were left on his hand. "My two fingers were cut off by the Gao family just because I didn't want to sell food.
We are a family of five, both parents are seriously ill, the children are still young, and there are few people who can work in the fields. However, the Gao family had to take away 75 douc of grain from the 15 acres of land they were allocated, and only gave one dou to four
Ten pieces of paper!”
"I wanted to leave some rice and grain to sell in Minxian County, and get more money so that I could buy medicine for my family. The Gao family didn't agree to it no matter what, so they tied me up and beat me severely in the open space in the village. Finally, my family was
They took away at least seventy-six bushels of grain, but were given seventy-three bushels of silver."
"My family's allowance is one hundred and three dou, and the Gao family's allowance is five dou less."
"And my family has a total of 560 bushels of rice in three years."
"my home……"
The kneeling people spoke one after another.
After talking about it, there was a burst of crying: "How my brother and sister-in-law's family died, do you still remember?"
"We were really frightened by the bandits, so we could only listen to the Gao family."
"I also want to cry out for my brother and sister-in-law, but I don't dare...those people are too scary. They kill without blinking an eye, and the government can't catch them."
"Meng Da is right. Gao Lizheng sent his two sons to tell us that we should deliver the news to every household. If the government investigates, we will say that we are afraid of bandits so we dare not report the news."
"Later, when I saw the Sixteenth Household making fur coats with the surrounding immigrants, I felt from the bottom of my heart that the Sixteenth Household was very powerful, so I told the girl from the Zhao family about this, thinking that after the Sixteenth Household knew about it, they might be able to think
Find a way to deal with it.”
They spend all their efforts in the fields all year round, and the only thing that can sustain their livelihood is the grain. The whole family is eagerly waiting for the grain to be sold for money, and they feel uncomfortable when they are bought at a low price. This must be in their hearts.
Notes must be taken clearly.
Gao Zhengfa's eyes went dark for a while. The Gao family was really doomed.
"No...it's Gao Lizheng. It's Gao Lizheng who colluded with Wang Hu. We all know that in addition to selling grain to the Gao family every year, we also have to hand in rice grains to support the bandits. The Gao family said that this is for
It’s not up to them to decide whether the bandits will come to the village or not."
This is the cause and effect of the whole thing. Meng Gao explained it clearly in a simple way.
Hearing this order, Gao Zhengfa's feet softened and he almost fell to his knees in front of Gao Lizheng. He knew that this trial was over. When the accounts they handed in were compared with the numbers recorded by the villagers, they would find out that those villagers said
are all true.
Before Xie Chen could say anything, he saw someone else crowding over.
Cao Ben and Xie Chen stood not far away, and all the words of Meng Gao and others fell into their ears.
What the woman did was obviously wrong, but no one would blame her. How could she fight against the bandits? But it was a dead end.
Cao Bendao: "Then should we identify ourselves with the clerk now so that we can sort out this case?"
Gao Zhengfa looked at the piece of paper, his eyes were red, and he just wanted to step forward and grab it, but he knew in his heart that it would be useless. Gao Lizheng, who was being supported by someone, had a pale face and stretched out his arms to wave wildly, as if
Meng Gao is about to be pulled over and torn into pieces.
Cao Ben frowned and said, "I didn't expect Taozhou to be like this. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes..."
"We know that you want to force the relocated people to have no way out and have to spend a lot of money to buy food from you. But you are watching the relocated people from the West Village going to Zhuangzi to work on the stockade and burn charcoal and sell it for money.
The deal couldn't be completed, so he had bad intentions and secretly dealt with the sixteen families who were relocated."
The Gao family immediately cried out, and Gao Zhengfa took the opportunity to help Gao Lizheng leave. Unexpectedly, the clerk told Zhao Xuejing, "Please take a few people and help Gao Lizheng to the medical center in front for treatment."
Gao Li was waving like this for a long time, and finally opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood with a "pop" sound. His eyes went straight, and his body fell softly. He saw that there was a lot of air coming out and little air coming in.
When Gao Zhengfa heard this, he seemed to have caught Meng Gao's hand: "They have no contact with the relocated residents of West Village. How could they think of telling the news to the sixteen households? It's all false."
Knowing that someone in the family died at the hands of someone else, not only could they not be blamed, but they had to give people rice and food.
After saying this, Meng Gao took out a thick stack of paper from his arms and handed it to the clerk: "This is the amount of rice and grain purchased by the Gao family in three years. There are twenty-three households in the village except those with the surname Gao. Each household
We all remember how much rice we sold and how much rice the Gao family took away to the bandits."
Moreover, if one person says this and a whole village says this, how can they defend themselves?
That night, there was no movement at all in the East Village of Fengxia Village. They were like dead people, but Meng Gao knew that no one in the East Village could sleep, and everyone kept their eyes open until dawn.
Xie Chen said calmly: "They just wanted us to see it, didn't you hear? They had planned to use the refugees to cause trouble early in the morning. They knew that we would arrive in Taozhou today, so they set up such a stage for us, but they
I didn’t expect the relocated residents and farmers to come forward and sue them.”
"Sir," Meng Gao took a deep breath and looked at the clerk in front of him, "a while ago, bandits broke into the West Village of Fengxia Village at night. It was all arranged by Gao Lizheng. The day before the bandits came, the Gao family
We have been told that no matter what happens in the West Village, we are not allowed to go out."
Xie Chen glanced at the paper. It was not surprising that these farmers still remembered how much rice they had sold in the past three years.
After saying that, Meng Gao looked at the clerk again: "We will know this because this is how the Gao family treated us."
After the official finished speaking, he looked at the Gao family and said, "The rest of the Gao family are all staying here, waiting for Mr. Zhao's interrogation."
"If we hadn't heard that the sixteen households in the West Village resisted the bandits together, we might not have dared to sue the Gao family until now," Meng Gao said. "I heard that Wang Hu was captured by Mr. Zhao, and the Gao family had less to rely on.
We secretly discussed it and wrote a petition and sent it to the Yamen."
Having said this, Meng Gao looked at Zhao Luoyang: "Girl from the Zhao family."
People in the East Village of Fengxia Village all lowered their heads. When Meng Gao looked at Zhao Luoyang and others, there was a guilty look on his face.
"The people knew who was good to them and who was not good to them, so they did not plot against Zhao Jingyun, but complained to Zhao Jingyun to the government office."
Do this just to stay alive.
"They wanted to sue the Gao family. They just wrote the petition and encountered bandits on their way back. The whole family was killed. The ones who killed them were Wang Hu and his men."
The woman choked even more as she spoke: "Just because they are my brother and sister-in-law, I sent two buckets of rice to the Gao family. Every time I think about this, I feel uncomfortable. I feel sorry for them."
Meng Gao continued: "The petition has not been finished yet. When I was working at Gao's house, I heard Gao Lizheng and Gao Zhengfa saying that they would let the refugees surround the government office, deal with Mr. Zhao, and then deal with the sixteen households in the West Village. I
Tell everyone the news and..."
"It's a pity that the Gao family's calculation was wrong. Wang Hu and others failed to break into the West Village and were killed by the court. Gao Zhengshen, who led the bandits, died in the hands of the bandits. Gao Lizheng was sick and anxious.
I can’t afford to be sick.”
"It was also at that time that I tried to interact with the sixteen relocated households," Meng Gao said. "My big ox was always in poor health. The sixteen relocated households were selling cheese, so I took the rice grains and wanted to exchange them for some cheese.
The cows replenish their health, so the Zhao family girls collected very little rice and left some whey for the big cows every day. We can't help the emigrants, but the emigrants can do this to us, and we feel guilty in the first place."
Meng Gao responded to Gao Zhengfa: "You don't allow us to talk to the 16 relocated households. You say that the relocated people have no money in their hands and will sneak into the village to steal. You let us keep an eye on the relocated people every day, even if the relocated people come to the village to collect water."
, and they can only do so half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening. They are not allowed to come to the East Village on weekdays."
Zhao Xueli looked at the crowd and said, "Those people from the Ding family and the Zou family stopped the government officials and wanted to take away the rice and grain. Let's go help Mr. Zhao."
"Let's go," the people around heard this and responded one after another, "Let's go and help Mr. Zhao."
Zhao Xueli led people towards the city. Xie Chen and Cao Ben did not react for a moment and were pushed aside. Xie Chen stumbled and almost fell there. Fortunately, someone helped him.
Then a familiar voice said: "Master, please be careful."