The public trial of Zhang Xiang, an official from the Ministry of Industry, and others who were suspected of corruption and perversion of the law was held at the Yellow River construction site.
Logically speaking, Zhang Xiang and others were stationed in Huai'an by the Ministry of Industry, and their trial should also be held in the capital. However, Su Hao wrote to the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Punishment respectively, explaining that Zhang Xiang mainly harmed the people of Huai'an, and requested that the people be punished in Huai'an.
Huai'an tried and executed him, and the Ministry of Punishment agreed. After all, they were just a few officials, and they were not worth the attention of the Ministry of Punishment.
The Huai'an Prefecture was responsible for the entire trial. The person who tried the case was Su Hao's old acquaintance, Huai'an Tongjian Tian Younian, and the person who ultimately presided over the public trial was naturally Huai'an Magistrate Han Wen.
Su Hao's reconnaissance of Zhang Xiang and others was very thorough. At the last moment, he suddenly seized the houses of each suspect and the merchants who had money transactions with them, and intercepted a large number of account books and stolen money. In the ironclad fact
In front of them, Zhang Xiang and others had no choice but to fully admit their crimes.
The first criminal, Zhang Xiang, was sentenced to death because of his serious crimes and his attempt to blackmail the government for his role in the river embankment project. His family members were also executed. All the adult men were beheaded, while women and children were allowed to die.
As an official slave. This was the first time that Su Hao did not feel disgusted by the legal regulations such as killing Lian. In his opinion, a person like Zhang Xiang who has lost his conscience must pay with the fate of his whole family in order to deter other Xiaoxiao.
disciples.
Zhang Guanlian, Li Shibo and others were also sentenced to beheading because of corruption. The eldest son of each family was sentenced to exile, and other family members were sentenced to three years of hard labor on the river. If they could survive these three years of hard labor,
Then you can regain your freedom and become an ordinary civilian. It should be said that this punishment is already very light.
The minions who followed Zhang Xiang and others to do evil were also punished in various ways according to their respective crimes. Some were exiled, some were whipped, and some were forced to work. In general, it can be said that the sky is wide and the network is not leaking.
All current and former slave laborers on the river were notified and came to participate in the public trial. Seeing that the bad guys who had bullied them got their due end, the slave laborers cried with joy, and some even worshiped the sky.
Condolences to those relatives who have passed away.
After announcing the punishment decisions for the criminals, Han Wen began to announce the second agenda item of the conference: refund of compensation.
"Refund?"
The waiters at the venue all cast their surprised eyes on the Korean text on the podium.
"Yes, we will refund the compensation!" Han Wen solemnly said, "Dear fellow villagers, Zhang Xiang, Zhang Guanlian, Li Shibo and other evil officials have used clever names to extract your deserved income for 10 years. Under the auspices of Director Su of the Ministry of Industry, the government
The homes of these evil officials were searched, and a total of more than 100,000 taels of cash and various property were confiscated. Director Su thought of everyone's hard work and the hardships of the lives of the people in Huai'an, and wrote to the court, requesting that the proceeds from these seizures be used to refund the compensation stamps.
Xiang and other evil officials squeezed money from everyone.
Since part of the money they squeezed out has been squandered, their family assets are not enough to repay all the money. The Huai'an government has decided to take 30,000 taels of silver from the government treasury to pay for the compensation."
The words in Korean reached the ears of every servant through the yamen standing around the venue. At first, everyone couldn't believe it, and then their eyes filled with tears and they were so excited. I don't know who took the lead first. Everyone cheered and knelt down.
On the ground, he shouted loudly:
"Lord Han is wise!"
"Master Su is the reborn parent we are waiting for!"
"Su Qingtian!"
"..."
Think about how much hard-earned money everyone has been extorted from by Zhang Xiang and his thugs over the years. Today, everyone can see the fate of the evil officials and feel relieved. Who would have thought that the prefect would actually give everyone a
Here comes such good news that the money that was extorted can be returned to everyone.
There are account books for distributing money on the river. With these account books, you can find the people who worked as slaves and find out the income they deserved that year. Of course, it is unrealistic to say that there are no errors in the records in these account books.
, and the so-called "fire consumption" charged by Zhang Xiang and others is not registered, and can only be estimated based on a ratio, which cannot be very accurate.
But it’s good to have an estimate. Back then, 10 taels of silver were taken away, and now even if you only get back 5 taels, it’s still an extra income, and it also shows that you’re wise.
This is not the first time that the imperial court has investigated and dealt with corrupt officials, but didn’t the income confiscated every time go into the government treasury, or even into the officials’ private pockets? This time, Director Su was actually able to write the document himself
Xin asked the court to use the money as compensation funds. This was such an act of love for the people. It can be called the best blue sky in the Ming Dynasty!
Amidst the commotion, Su Hao walked up to the podium, and Han Wen gave him the speaking position. Su Hao subconsciously looked for the microphone, and found that there was no such thing in this year, so he was so angry that he shouted loudly
He shouted to the crowd:
"Dear fellow villagers, I am Su Hao, the river director sent to Huai'an by the Ministry of Industry. Zhang Xiang and others are the officials sent by the Ministry of Industry. They have brought great suffering to everyone in the fish and meat township. I am here.
On behalf of the Ministry of Industry, I apologize to all the folks!"
Having said this, he gathered up his clothes and bowed deeply to the thousands of servants in the audience. At this, the servants who had just stood up quickly knelt down again, "Master Su", "Su
Screams such as "Blue sky" were heard endlessly. In the eyes of everyone, Su Hao was a dignified sixth-grade official, and it was said that he was also a member of the military garrison. He was just a commoner, how could he stand up to Su Hao's gift? Everyone kowtowed in return,
While thinking about Mr. Su's kindness and his approachable demeanor in my heart.
"The river project is related to the safety and happiness of the people. You are all the heroes of the construction project. You are all people who have contributed to the river and will continue to contribute in the future. We cannot let everyone shed tears after sweating. So.
, We must return all the money that Zhang Xiang extorted from everyone. If the confiscated silver is not enough, we officials would rather make up for it with our own family assets!" Su Hao became more and more emotional as he spoke.
Naturally, there was another sound of gratitude, cheers, and kowtows below. Su Hao continued: "Next, there is a lot of more arduous work to be done on the river. We have to complete the reinforcement of the Yellow River embankment before the flood season.
, dig the Huaihe River into the river, and build small canals for irrigation. These all require the joint efforts of everyone. Our project is a century-old project. We must complete the project on time, quality, and quantity. Can everyone do it!"
"able!"
"Whoever can't do it is the son of a bitch!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Su, we will finish the project even if we are exhausted!"
"Master Su, I will leave these more than 100 kilograms to Master Su!"
"..."
Everyone in the audience was so excited by Su Hao's speech that they all blushed and had to bite their fingers to write an oath in blood. A public trial successfully turned into a swearing-in meeting for the river project. Those simple people
This is what the river workers say, and what they think in their hearts, Mr. Su is so kind to us, if we cheat and cheat and don't work hard, can we still be considered human beings?
After the meeting, Ma Yu and others, with the assistance of Chen Guanyu, Zhou Ruyuan and others, began to reorganize the laborers, select team leaders, and arrange supervisors, completely replacing the management and command system originally established by Zhang Xiang and others. The new one
The first thing the supervisors did when they took office was to use the old account books to calculate the amount of silver that each laborer should be compensated for, including those who had left the river project, and even those who were deceased, were all included in the list of compensation, and the money would be
were sent to their homes.
"Change it. What you did is really unbelievable."
Outside the venue, Han Wen pulled Su Hao and commented with emotion. Returning the stolen money to the powerless migrant workers was something that no Ming official would do, but Su Hao did it.
You know, although doing this can gain the support of migrant workers, this support is worthless. It is not the migrant workers who control public opinion. What benefits can Su Hao do to his career?
?
In fact, Han Wen first asked Su Hao to send troops to search the homes of Zhang Xiang and others, with the intention of letting Su Hao make some extra money. There is nothing more profitable than searching a house, because the only way to make money is to handle the amount of money confiscated.
The investor knows it himself. As long as he does some tricks on the account books, no one can know about half of the stolen goods.
However, Su Hao did not do this. He chose to hand over all the income to the Huai'an Mansion. At the same time, he wrote a report to the court, requesting that the money be returned to the slave laborers. This is not a few hundred taels, but a few thousand taels.
It was a matter of 100,000 taels, but Su Hao was not moved at all. This made Han Wen feel sorry for Su Hao, but also a little relieved. The reason for relief was that he knew that he could not be moved in front of money and silk.
Young people are the ones who truly have a future.
"These servants are so pitiful." Su Hao explained, "Zhang Xiang's ill-gotten wealth is the hard-earned money of the servants. If I were greedy, I would have a bad conscience."
"If you can have a heart of compassion for heaven and earth, it will be worth the sages' articles you read. Let's face it, I really did not misjudge you." Han Wen said.
Su Hao said: "Father-in-law, this is all thanks to your teachings."
"Haha, what can I teach you?" Han Wen said with a smile, "Okay, let's change it. Now that the strategy for controlling the river has been decided, and the dirty people on the river have been arrested, you should be able to relax for a while, right?"
When Han Wen asked this question, there was naturally a deep meaning in it. Su Hao had been postponing his wedding to Han Qian on the grounds that he was busy with his career. Now that everything has come to an end, Han Wen was reminding Su Hao that it was time to do something.
Su Hao shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I can't relax anymore."
"Why?" Han Wen asked.
Su Hao said: "I just got a quick report saying that the Ministry of Revenue has sent me a new errand. It is estimated that the official documents will be sent to Huai'an in the next few days."
"So, you want to leave Huai'an?" Han Wen asked with some disappointment.
"That's right." Su Hao said, "I don't know exactly where to go or what to do, but it probably won't be an easy matter. Father-in-law, the issue of river management is of great importance, and Ma Yu and the others should still do it. If you stay in Huai'an, please ask your father-in-law to take good care of you."
"Regulating the river is originally my duty in Huai'an Mansion, why should I be entrusted by a good son-in-law?" Han Wen said, he patted Su Hao's shoulder and said: "Change it, don't worry, go ahead. A good man has his ambitions in all directions. I believe that you can make new achievements that will satisfy both the Holy Father and Wang Cifu."
(End of Volume 2) (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)