"What?" Magistrate He was startled at first, but then relaxed and said with a smile: "Haha, my boss lied to me again..."
"He is your old boss. You should go and see him off, both emotionally and logically." Wang Xian said slowly: "The legal principles are nothing more than human relationships. I can allow you to pay your respects. Did I lie to you?"
, we will know when the time comes.”
"I'm not trying to be deceived," Magistrate He still didn't believe it, and stood up and said, "Since my superiors asked me to go, it's better for me to be respectful than to obey. At least I can go out and get some fresh air."
"That's the truth." Wang Xian nodded and told Zhou Yong: "Take a few people to escort Mr. He to the Fantai Yamen to express condolences, and pay attention to protecting Mr. He's safety."
"Yes." Zhou Yong responded and said sideways: "Master He, please."
"..." Magistrate He was stunned. Could it be that what Wang Xian said was true? He immediately said unconfidently, "Sir, do you really want me to go?"
Wang Xian closed his eyes and waved his hand. Zhou Yong urged: "Let's go."
With full hesitation, Magistrate He got on the carriage waiting in the courtyard, and the carriage drove out of the carriage and drove to the Chief Envoy's Yamen.
Wang Xian summoned the next official, and in the same manner, they all got on the carriage and went to express their condolences to Zhang Chun. He was a guy who could use less effort and effort. Zhang Fantai lying there was worth a thousand words.
Yu, why bother talking to these difficult guys?
The carriage was driving on a familiar street, but Magistrate He couldn't see what was going on outside, because it was actually a fully enclosed prison van. In the car, Magistrate He even thought that Wang Xian might want to transfer him secretly, but he just didn't believe it anyway
Zhang Chun was dead. Just as he was racking his brains, thinking about how to report the news to his people, he suddenly heard bursts of mournful music and intermittent cries.
Magistrate He's heart skipped a beat, and the carriage stopped. Zhou Yong opened the door and said, "Master He, come down."
Magistrate He hesitated for a long time. Fang tremblingly stretched out his hand to hold the door frame and stuck out his head to take a look. At this glance, he saw that the former glorious and feudal Chief Secretary's Yamen was now filled with white flags and layered curtains...
Magistrate He's vision went dark and he fainted again.
But this time Zhou Yong was not so polite and pinched him hard to wake him up. Magistrate He slowly opened his eyes and murmured: This is not true, this is not true. At this moment, his ears were buzzing.
There was only one thought swirling in my heart - Zhang Chun is actually dead. If Zhang Chun is really dead, who can I rely on to help him? I am afraid that there is only one way to die.
The result that he least wanted to imagine and had never expected occurred - Zhang Chun actually died... Suddenly he spread his legs and ran towards the yamen. Zhou Yong and others hurriedly followed closely to prevent him.
Run away or commit suicide...
They were obviously worried too much. Magistrate He entered the Yamen and stumbled straight to the mourning hall in the back hall. There was a mahogany coffin in the middle of the mourning hall, which had not yet been sealed. He screamed and threw himself in despite everyone's obstruction.
He went up and lay down next to the coffin and took a look. The person lying inside wearing a second-grade official uniform was Zhang Chun. But at this time, he had no breath and his face was stiff. He was already dead and could not die anymore...
Magistrate He held the coffin tightly, his throat rattled, and after a long while he finally let out an earth-shattering cry, and then he burst into mourning. The cry was heartbreaking, and those who heard it changed their color and cried more than Zhang Fantai's family members.
The situation was much more tragic, and even the filial son and virtuous grandson couldn't hold it back.
Magistrate He fainted from tears several times and was still crying, which made the people who didn't know the truth secretly wonder. Why did Magistrate He look like his dead father? Could it be that he and Zhang Fantai had an affair?
Are the love rumors true?
People were making wild guesses, and the detained officials came one after another, just like Magistrate He, crying so hard that the mourners couldn't care less about their sorrow and just looked at the scene...
Fortunately, no matter how hard they cried, there would always be a moment when they finished crying. Zhou Yong and others helped Magistrate He and others who were paralyzed by crying, and left the mourning hall one by one. Only then did people come to their senses. It turned out that this old man
These few are not crying for Zhang Fantai, but for themselves...
When Magistrate He was brought back to the palace and appeared in front of Wang Xian again, although it had only been more than half an hour, he seemed to have aged twenty years. His whole body collapsed, and he sat slumped on an armchair with his eyes closed slightly.
He only sees the movement of his mouth but does not hear his voice, just like an old man suffering from dementia.
Seeing his condition, Wang Xian and Zhou Yong looked at each other. Could it be that the medicine was too strong? Is this old boy stupid? Why is he so fragile?
Fortunately, he didn't wait long. Magistrate He suddenly stopped mumbling and let out a horrifying chuckle. He slowly raised his head and stared directly at Wang Xiandao: "Okay! Zhang Chun didn't commit suicide. He was silenced."
?”
Wang Xian frowned and made a secret gesture to signal Wu Wei, who was taking notes, to stop. In fact, Wu Wei would not have written down this sentence without his reminding.
"Don't you want to ask? I'll tell you everything." Magistrate He leaned forward nervously and said loudly: "Saying that Zhang Fantai committed suicide may fool others, but it cannot fool me... It's not that I look down on him.
That coward Zhang Chun doesn’t even have the courage to commit suicide.”
"Actually, he was committed suicide, and there is only one person in Taiyuan City who has such ability. It is not you, the imperial envoy, but the one in the palace of King Jin. Our cases all started because of King Jin, and they were all for him.
He just wiped his butt and got into this situation and now he has killed Zhang Chun. He must have wanted to cut off the gecko's tail so that we can take the blame for him and he can be left alone." I only heard Magistrate He waving his hands to himself and saying hysterically: "
Just ask, ask, whatever you want to know, I'll tell you everything you ask, I'll tell you what you asked, and I'll tell you whoever you get involved with!"
"Are you tired of living?" Wang Xian frowned and said.
"I'm not tired of living," Magistrate He said with a crazy look on his face: "Prince Jin killed Zhang Chun. No one will come to save us. If it's not for my family, I have to save myself. Just ask, as long as you dare to ask, I
He dares to say anything, but I don’t know if my superior has the guts to listen.”
"I'm going to ask you now!" Wang Xian was not stingy by nature. How could he be suppressed by a prisoner? He stood up and said, "How did Zhao Changzhen, the magistrate of Fenyang, die?"
"It was because he secretly kept small accounts and was discovered by his long follower named Gou San." He Zhifu said happily: "Gou San reported it to me, and I reported it to Zhang Fantai, and Zhang Fantai ordered him to
"Killed to death"
"How did you kill him?" Wang Xian asked.
"At the farewell banquet that day, the feudal lord and the lord took turns pouring wine. Magistrate Zhao, who was already a poor drinker, was so drunk that he fell unconscious." Magistrate He said, "Gou San helped him back to the inn and laid him down on the bed.
, Zhao's mouth was dry and he asked for tea, so Gou San poured arsenic into the tea and waited for him to drink it. Zhao drank the tea and fell unconscious after a while, so Gou San used the hidden tea to open the mountain.
I used an ax to chop off his head. Originally, he was supposed to bring Zhao Changzhen’s head to my place to receive the reward, but I don’t know where the link was wrong, so he escaped. After that, he was wanted throughout the province, and his whereabouts are still unknown.
"
"He fell into my hands." Wang Xian said with some pride.
"How is that possible?" Magistrate He didn't believe it, and immediately said, "The King of Jin gave it to you, right?"
"No, I found it myself." Wang Xian was a little shameless. In fact, Gou San came to him on his own because he was desperate. But if he hadn't been secretly working hard, Gou San would not have known that the imperial envoy was looking for him.
"Shangchao is really hard to believe." Magistrate He gave a thumbs up and said: "People say that Shanxi is a monolith and cannot be splashed with water, but in Shangchao's eyes, it is riddled with holes and loopholes."
"The Skynet is vast, it's just sparse but not omitted." Wang Xian said modestly.
"Haha, but we were not defeated by you, we were defeated by our own people." Magistrate He turned his head to see if anyone was taking notes. Unfortunately, from his position, he could not see Wu behind him.
Because. "If the interrogation is normal, the interrogator will ask next, why did you want to kill Zhao Changzhen. The criminal will answer, because Zhao Zhixian is not in the same group as us. Then the interrogator will ask, who is in your group?"
?”
"You're asking for an official and I'm asking for an official?" Wang Xian cut off what Magistrate He was saying. He was a little agitated by Magistrate He, and it was really difficult for him to deal with such a scheming old official.
"Of course you are on the higher rank, but the higher rank is asking the official, so you have to ask the same question. If the upper rank doesn't ask in this way, there will be problems." A hint of ridicule appeared on the face of the prefect He: "Being an official in the same dynasty is like riding in the same dynasty.
No one is immune to the situation in a boat, when it falls into the water first and then in the water. It’s just who goes first and who comes last. Of course, Shangchai has only entered the officialdom not long ago, so you may think I’m being alarmist. But Shangchai, I’m more than ten years older than you.
I have been in the officialdom for twenty years, and I have something to say to you: a lesson from the past and a guide for future events."
Wang Xian frowned again. The man named He was hysterical just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye he was calmer than anyone else. What kind of medicine was being sold in the gourd?
"If you don't believe me, think about it. The annual salary of a first-rank official in the Ming Dynasty is only 230 taels of silver. I have been the prefect for a year and my annual salary is less than 100 taels. This amount of money is just enough.
The family ate. But in the Ming Dynasty, all officials were in other places and local officials. There were only a few officials in a yamen, but there were dozens or hundreds of officials. Each of them had been involved for many years and was deeply entangled with the local government.
We have become local snakes. If we take office alone, will we not be bullied to death by local snakes? So we must hire a few masters, some in charge of money and food, some in charge of criminal names, some in charge of household laws, some in charge of copywriting... In short, even if we don’t want to do it
If you want to have a career and be an official safely, you have to pay for these expenses, but you have to pay them out of your own pocket. Who can't have an annuity of more than a hundred taels? Not to mention the necessary pomp and ceremony for officialdom...
The expense of being an official is too high." Magistrate He rambled: "My one hundred taels of silver can't even last for a month. My superior, tell me, who can be an official in the Ming Dynasty?
Who wouldn’t fall into the water when there’s a storm?”