Zhu Qizhen was even more surprised. Since Yuan Bin specifically mentioned this person, could there be something to it?
"Please explain clearly what is going on!"
"Yes!"
Yuan Bin sorted out his thoughts for a while, and then said: "This man named Niu Dabao is a well-known local gangster. He bullies men and women and does a lot of bad things. Two years ago, Ningbo Shipyard was ordered to supervise
To build ironclad ships, a large number of students were transferred from the Academy of Sciences. These people..."
He paused and continued: "These people have relatively... upright personalities. When someone makes trouble, they will naturally not swallow their anger. It is said that... they started fighting with those troublemaking gangsters, and... they even won...
…”
Zhu Qizhen was not surprised when he heard what Yuan Bin said.
Peng Qing, the former dean of the Academy of Sciences, and Bei Lin, the current dean, have exactly the same temperament as the master and the apprentice, and they are both copycats whenever they disagree.
How can employees led by such a leader have a good temper?
Those gangsters must be used to bullying others and think that everyone must be afraid of them. If they dare to go to the shipyard to cause trouble, it is conceivable that they will be beaten to pieces.
"Niu Dabao and others saw that the situation was not good, so they ran away. At most, they were slightly injured. However, three days later, they... died!"
"Dead?"
"Yes, according to Wu Zuo's test results, he was seriously injured due to a beating and died."
Zhu Qizhen was surprised: "People from the Academy of Sciences beat people to death?"
Yuan Bin shook his head and said: "It's not that simple. One of the confessions obtained by General Shi mentioned this person, saying that Niu Dabao died...of being silenced!"
Zhu Qizhen's face became more and more serious, and things were starting to get a little strange.
Although the people at the Academy of Sciences have a hot temper, they still have a certain degree of severity. When encountering these troublemaking gangsters, they can at most teach them a lesson, and they will never beat them to death.
Coupled with the confessions obtained by Shi Heng and Yuan Bin, it seems that there is another reason for Niu Dabao's death.
In this case, why did Wu Zuo give the result that he died of serious injuries?
"Where is the confession?"
Yuan Bin seemed to be prepared for it. He took out a confession from his body and handed it over.
After Zhu Qizhen took it, he looked at it carefully.
The owner of this confession was called Ma Duan, and the things he confessed were mainly related to smuggling out to sea, and only a few words were mentioned about Niu Dabao.
It is probably said that Niu Dabao got something important, and Ma Duan asked him to ask for it. The two made an appointment to meet at a street tavern. However, Niu Dabao suddenly changed his mind, temporarily increased the price, and threatened to sue the government.
Ma Duan suddenly became murderous. He first pretended to agree, and then took advantage of his unpreparedness and stabbed both of them in the back, killing him instantly.
It stands to reason that the other crimes this person confessed were far more serious than beating a gangster to death, so he would not be lying about this matter. Then why did Wu's autopsy result not mention the stab wound at all, but only said it was related to the fight in the shipyard. "Go and find out what happened to Niu Dabao's death? If you can know the real cause of his death and follow the clues, you may be able to find out what secrets he holds."
"Yes!"
Yuan Bin bowed and left the shipyard quickly.
Zhu Qizhen was not in the mood to continue studying ironclads. When he returned to his residence, he found Zhang Chun's memorial.
However, he was only thinking about Niu Dabao's case now. What was the purpose of the rebels in sending them to the shipyard? What secrets did he hold? Why was the cause of death given by Ningbo Prefecture so different from the results investigated by Jinyiwei? If he didn't understand these issues clearly, he would have no time to read the memorial, so he would just pick it up and throw it aside.
Inadvertently, I saw a few words revealed in the scattered memorial - Niu Dabao!
Zhu Qizhen immediately became interested, picked up the memorial again, and read it carefully.
This memorial... actually talks about Niu Dabao's eucalyptus!
However, Zhang Chun insisted that Niu Dabao was beaten to death by people at the shipyard. This incident was due to Jin Ying's identity, so he finally let it go. The implication is that those in the shipyard were arrogant and oppressed the people, and Jin Ying was even more so.
Rely on the grace of God and do whatever you want.
Zhu Qizhen had to admire these literati, who didn't even use any curse words when swearing.
Things are starting to get interesting!
"Come here!"
Upon hearing the summons, Fan Zhong walked in at the door: "I'm here!"
"Xuan Ningbo Magistrate Zhang Chun!"
"Yes!"
Zhang Chung just came back and got the decree. He couldn't help but feel secretly happy. His memorial must have had an effect.
In this way, he has an advantage. If those people in the shipyard try to sue him again, the emperor will not believe it easily.
Sure enough, when he came to see the emperor, he saw the emperor holding his memorial in his hand.
"What's going on with this mess?"
Zhang Chun hurriedly replied: "Back to the emperor, this case is not the fault of Wei Chen, but at the beginning... due to the protection of the guard eunuch Jin Ying, the real culprit has been at large. In the past two years, this case has been the heart of Wei Chen.
I have a knot in my heart, and if I don’t express my displeasure today, I, the humble minister... are guilty!”
Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Who is the real murderer?"
"According to the autopsy results conducted in the afternoon, Niu Dabao died of serious injuries, which was caused by a fight with some people in the shipyard three days before the incident."
"Seriously injured, what kind of injury is it?"
"This, this..."
Zhang Chun was a little confused. He didn't expect that the emperor would ask such detailed questions without being prepared in advance.
"...It should be... caused by punches, kicks, and sticks."
"Are you sure?"
"Weichen...sure!"
Zhang Chun tried hard to remember, saying that it was a fight at the time, and I didn’t hear anyone using a knife, so it should be fine...
Zhu Qizhen frowned and his face was gloomy because he didn't know whether Zhang Chun really didn't know anything or was just pretending to be stupid in front of him.
"There must be no carelessness when it comes to human life. Let me ask you again, how did Niu Dabao die?"
"It was... people from the shipyard beat him to death!"
"Your Majesty..."
At this time, Yuan Bin arrived in a hurry. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Zhang Chun beside him and was stunned for a moment.
Zhu Qizhen said: "You came just in time, did you find anything?"
Yuan Bin looked at Zhang Chun and said: "That Wu Zuo has already been attacked. Niu Dabao died from the stab wound on his back. One stab was fatal!"
"What?"
Zhang Chun almost jumped up and said: "Impossible!"
Yuan Bin ignored him and continued: "The perpetrator was Ma Duan. It is said that this man gave money to Magistrate Zhang and suppressed the matter."
"No such thing!"
Zhang Chun's face was pale, and his forehead was already stained with sweat.
Yuan Bin said coldly: "Master Zhang, your Ningbo Mansion's Wu Zuo is outside. Why don't you let him go to the palace and you two confront each other face to face?"
Zhang Chun's face turned from white to green, and then from blue to green again. He was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.
"He...he must have slandered me. I usually treat him well, but today I slandered me. This person has evil intentions. Your Majesty, I beg you to punish him as a warning to others!"