"Master, what should I do?" The three people outside asked dumbly as they looked at the slamming door.
"Alas..." How could Chao Tianjiao not know that this was someone's revenge on him? But who knew that he was Wang Xingye's son, and who knew that Li Sheng could fall in an instant? Knowing one thing and the other, he would not have rejected Wang Xian in the first place.
outside the door.
"It's so outrageous. Who does he think he is? The housekeepers don't dare to do this to us!" the long-term workers said angrily.
"Oh, who told the young master..." Seeing Chao Tianjiao's gloomy face, the long-term worker's voice became smaller and smaller, "He fell into someone else's trick..."
It turned out that Chao Cai, the eldest son of Chao Tianjiao, was sitting at home, and misfortune fell from the sky, and he was inexplicably involved in a lawsuit...
The Chao family had a big business. They had a house in Shangxinxiang and a manor in the countryside. During the autumn harvest season, Chao Cai lived in the manor and worked with the long-term workers.
This kind of country manor has always been quiet and peaceful, but yesterday morning, when the long-term workers got up to work, they found a dead body lying in the yard where the grain was dried...
Chao Cai was called over to take a look and saw that he was a beggar who had collapsed. He was not a professional beggar, so he had no way of judging the cause and time of death. He could only guess that he might have climbed over the wall to steal food, but he died of a sudden illness.
While Chao Cai secretly complained about bad luck, he discussed with the senior workers what to do. Some people said that of course he should report it to the official, but others said that the person died in our yard.
!
Chao Cai had heard that government officials were the most hooligans. Whenever such a murder case occurred, they would not conduct an investigation. Instead, they would first identify wealthy people with no background near the dead body as suspects, and then imprison them for extortion. Those
Even if the detained rich families lose money to eliminate misfortunes, they will still be imprisoned. The unlucky ones will be indiscriminately and severely punished.
The more Chao Cai thought about it, the more frightened he became. Together with several old workers, he decided to transport the dead body far away and throw it away to avoid causing trouble.
After making up their mind, the long-term workers carried the body onto the cart and covered it with a straw mat. Before it was still dark, the two long-term workers drove out of the manor.
Chao Cai was restless all morning, staring at the entrance of the village, waiting for the two long-term workers to come back. Waiting until noon, the two long-term workers came back, but they were tied up and escorted by a large group of policemen and minzhuang.
'It's broken...' Chao Cai's heart thumped, and he hurriedly came forward surrounded by all the long-term workers. He cupped his hands and said repeatedly: "Please invite me, sir. These two people are long-term workers in my family. They are innocent and have not committed any crime..."
"
"Bah! How dare a murderer claim to be innocent?" The leader was Zhang Mazi, the county's deputy arrester. He sneered and said, "Someone saw them with their own eyes, digging a hole in the reed swamp to bury the dead!"
"Master Chao misunderstood." Chao Caixin said, "Why is it so small that someone saw it?" So he had to tell the truth, saying that this body was found in his yard this morning. Because he was afraid of getting into trouble, he asked the long-term worker to secretly
Ship it out.
"If nothing else, if a beggar falls ill and goes out of business, you should notify the village chief and ask the government to come and conduct an autopsy before burying it!" Zhang Mazi sneered: "You must have killed people by being sneaky. You were afraid of being held accountable by the government, so you let your accomplices destroy it.
There will be no trace of the corpse!" He said and waved his hand, and the police officer put the chain on Chao Cai's head.
Chao Cai repeatedly complained that he was wronged, and the long-term workers also argued loudly, but they were all arrested by the officers. They searched the manor and found several swords and guns, as well as bows and arrows... These were all prepared by the manor to prevent theft. At this moment, they were all taken away.
Treated as evidence of guilt.
When the officers were returning with a group of suspects, Chao Tianjiao came over after hearing the news and begged the officers to let his son go. The money he received for his legs, food and drinks was ten times more generous than usual.
Zhang Mazi smiled and accepted his filial piety, clasped his fists and said: "Don't panic, justice. We didn't say that your son killed the person. It's up to the lord to identify the murderer. Let Mr. Ling come with us. I promise it won't be difficult."
he."
Since it was the power of the government to detain suspects, Chao Tianjiao had no choice but to let them return to the city.
After returning home, Chao Tianjiao packed up a bag of money and asked the long-term worker to set up a cart to drive him into the county. He was also an old man, how could he not know that there must be something fishy about this matter? There is a saying that "the imperial power does not go to the countryside", unless there is someone
case, otherwise the official would not wander around the countryside. How could it be such a coincidence that he happened to meet the long-term worker who was burying the body?
After staying at a hotel on Yaqian Street, he went around trying to make connections, and finally learned the truth from a certain jailer in the execution room. It turned out that he had offended Wang Xingye's son, and someone was venting his anger on his old boss' behalf.
Chao Tianjiao went to Ma Dianshi, who was in charge of prisons in the county, and asked him to release him. Unexpectedly, Ma Dianshi said, "Your son has been arrested. A search of Zhuangzi also found swords. Who dares to release him without being tried by the county magistrate?"
Chao Tianjiao asked him to negotiate for peace on his behalf, but Ma Dianshi said: "I said you could, but the county boss 90% of the time will not let him go."
"Why?" Chao Tianjiao said dumbfounded.
"This is the first time since the county magistrate took office that he is collecting taxes in a serious manner. He really hopes to get a good start and look good in front of his superiors. Who would have thought that you would actually hide and not see the official who came to visit you? Isn't this an attempt to cause trouble for the county magistrate?" Ma Dianshi Yi
He said with an expression like "You are so confused": "Now that your son is in his hands, do you think you can let him go easily?"
"Can't..." Chao Tianjiao said bitterly.
"Isn't this the end?" Ma Dianshi stood up to leave, but Chao Tianjiao grabbed him and begged: "Master Ma, please show me a clear way! I will thank you greatly!"
"Actually, it's nothing. Let me give you a message," Ma Dianshi shook off his entanglement and said: "To untie the bell, you must tie the bell."
Chao Tianjiao suddenly realized this, and quickly asked people to buy gifts. In the name of apologizing to Wang Xian, he went straight to the Wang family. Unexpectedly, he was rejected!
Even though he was feeling angry, he lost his temper when he thought about how his son was tortured by the guards in prison, and whether he had his anus fucked by the prisoners in the same cell... He lost his temper at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That afternoon, Chao Tianjiao came again and was rejected again.
The next morning, Chao Zhengyi came again and was rejected again.
In the afternoon, he visited for the fourth time, and this time he knelt directly at the door of Wang's house. Only then did he finally see Wang Xian, the clerk of Wang Xian who had wanted to see him so much but couldn't!
In the courtyard, Wang Xian was lying on the lounge chair and said with a teasing look on his face: "I'm so awkward with justice. I've been to the door several times, but you've turned me away. Now that I'm not going, you've come to look around the thatched cottage again," he said at the end
, his voice became colder and colder, and he really had the potential to blackmail him. "Is this fun?!"
"Young official, please calm down." He was under the eaves and had to lower his head. Chao Tianjiao accompanied him and said cautiously: "That's all Li Sihu's intention. I don't dare to disobey."
"You pushed it cleanly." Wang Xian sneered: "Why doesn't Li Sheng let you see me?"
"Li Sheng didn't say that I wouldn't be allowed to see you, but he just told me not to listen to the petty officials. We can put off the grain collection as long as possible. We can wait until other grain areas are settled." Chao Tianjiao had a square face.
Zheng's face was full of regret and he said: "Li Sihu is also the immediate superior of our grain chief. I dare not not listen to his words. Considering that I have no face to face a junior official, I have to hide."
"Then why are you here again?" Wang Xian glanced at him and asked.
"It's like this..." Chao Tianjiao looked at the courtyard, but there was no figure of Wang Xingye, and asked in a low voice: "Where is your father?"
"He went to Nanjing." Wang Xian said calmly: "If you don't worry about telling me, just wait for him to come back."
"When will he come back?" Chao Tianjiao asked.
"As little as three to five days, as much as ten days and a half month..." Wang Xian shook his head and said.
Chao Tianjiao knew that he had offended the boy again, so he could only whisper: "Actually, it's the same with the junior officials..."
"Go ahead." Wang Xian took a sip of tea, "I don't guarantee that I will listen."
"We are scheduled to harvest grain tomorrow, please go and check it out." Chao Tian Jiao said respectfully, but secretly cursing in his heart, will he die if he doesn't show off?
"Which book are you going to collect them in?" Wang Xian asked without even raising his eyebrows.
"Of course..." Chao Tianjiao sighed secretly, brothers, don't blame me, it's important for me to save my son, so I have no choice but to be unjust once. "According to the newly approved account books..."
After saying this, he felt his heart bleed. The loss was too heavy...
"Don't be like a plague chicken!" Wang Xian couldn't stand his expression and said coldly: "You know better than anyone how many household registrations Shang Xinxiang has concealed. Even if you pay 20% more, you still have more.
Making money is nothing more than making more and less!" He said with a cold smile and said: "If you don't believe me, I will post the yellow list of going to Xinxiang and see whose side the people will side with!"
"This..." Chao Tianjiao was speechless. If the people knew that a quarter of the taxes they had paid over the years did not go into the national treasury, but were divided between him, the respected grain chief, and the government officials.
The Chao family really has no place in Shangxinxiang.
However, Chao Zhengyi also knew that Wang Xian was just scaring himself, because he simply could not afford the consequences of publishing the Yellow Register - don't forget that the Yellow Register was created by the government, and the population reduction on the books was attributed to relevant officials in the Yamen
A masterpiece. Without the protection of the government, Chao Tianjiao would not have dared to embezzle the imperial taxes so blatantly.
The government needs this stable and generous income to pay for the food and beverages of unofficial officials like Wang Xian, white laborers and other temporary workers. It can provide the daily needs of all the gentlemen and offset various miscellaneous expenses in the county... Yes
He said, "Whoever dares to cut off this income is making enemies of all the officials in the county. How dare Wang Xian, a small book clerk, dare?"
But Chao Zhenggong knew what Wang Xian meant, and he was warning himself that he had crossed the line. His greed and that of some people had seriously damaged the county's taxation level, making the county boss very unhappy! Others had no excuse to pay back the tax.
It's easy to say that if your son is in the hands of others, if you don't cooperate, you will only be asking for tragedy!
Thinking of this, Chao Tianjiao said dejectedly: "What the little official taught me is that I will go back to rule the villagers and pay the taxes in the yard tomorrow."
"Go!" Wang Xian waved his hand and said while suppressing his joy.