"Ahem!" Feng Delin suddenly coughed several times.
Only then did they remember that there was a policeman from the Guangzhou Prefecture of the Ming Dynasty in the room, and they immediately restrained their voices. Although people in Guangzhou don't respect the police very much due to the proliferation of policemen in Guangzhou, there was a policeman who was probably the chief of the police station or the patrol team.
A high-level policeman - the waiter at the teahouse called him "Sir", so they guessed - it would be better to restrain themselves in front of him. One person paused, remembering that the conversation was started by the shopkeeper's son who just walked in, and asked him
He asked: "Did the notice outside say anything about what they harvested, cut, and cut for other purposes besides making cripples or even animals? Did they engage in sorcery?"
"The notice outside didn't say anything about them practicing sorcery. It seemed like it was part of a major witchcraft case, not a case of harvesting and cutting. It only said that they collected living souls to refine them and combine them with 'big medicine'. There was no birth.
He made cripples and did not make animals... Also, there are no criminals in the witchcraft case in this public trial, because the circumstances of the witchcraft case are not clear yet, and they are still being interrogated and are not included in this public trial." The shopkeeper said.
said the son.
"In my opinion, those refined souls are used for sorcery! But those who practice sorcery and those who collect and cut raw materials are not the same group, so these criminals who collect and cut raw materials have now been interrogated clearly.
You can ask Zhan."
"Asking for punishment? Since the BC Yuan Dynasty, harvesting and cutting has been a crime punished by Lingchi. How could it be asking for execution?"
"Whether it is a case of harvesting or cutting, or a case of witchcraft, these are all cases that have been strictly prohibited in the past dynasties. As the largest city in Guangdong, Guangzhou City has so many people, even if it is done on the sea outside the city.
It’s not easy.”
"That's natural. Of course there are high-ranking people in the city who are behind this matter." The man suddenly said mysteriously: "Do you know that the Gao Family Courtyard was surrounded by soldiers from the garrison four days ago?"
When everyone saw that he was so mysterious, they thought he would tell some secrets. When they heard this, they were all disappointed and said: "Who doesn't know this? That day, hundreds of people surrounded the Gao family compound, and after a while, they were
Thousands of people in the whole family have been arrested, and thousands of people have to see it. What kind of thing is this?"
"Yes, there was someone from the Gao family who was working as a minister in the capital, and he was arrested by the whole family. The Gao family must have been involved in these two cases. What can be said?"
When this man saw everyone saying this, he couldn't help but said: "Then do you know that not only the Gao family is one of the masterminds behind this, but there are also several big families in the city who colluded with the Gao family to do this?"
Everyone was still not surprised after hearing this, but said with curious expressions on their faces: "Which big families are those?"
"Yes..." The man opened his mouth to say such a word, then suddenly paused, pretending to be incomprehensible and said: "I dare not say that."
"Tch~, I guess you don't know." Others were a little disappointed and said deliberately.
This man seemed to be someone who liked to show off in front of everyone. He blushed when he heard this and said, "Why didn't I know! My second sister-in-law's maiden brother's nephew is from the Guangzhou Police Department.
We have a good relationship with each other, so he told me everything, but how could I say such a big thing on such an occasion?"
Others were still disdainful. One person was about to say something when he suddenly turned his head and saw Feng Delin sitting aside and said: "I said you should stop bragging. There is a police officer here. If it has been found out, there are others."
The big family is meddling in these two major cases and will take you back to the police station in the name of spreading rumors and causing trouble."
The man also noticed Feng Delin, who was drinking tea and eating at the side, and hurriedly came over and whispered: "Officer, my family does have a relative who works as a recorder at the Police Headquarters, and it is Li Minghui. I also asked the officer to be busy with the little
Round it out."
Feng Delin was sitting aside and listening to their nonsense, with no intention of getting involved: During the meeting, Inspector Li and Qian Tongpan specifically explained that it was impossible to prevent such a major case from the common people.
The police saw the people talking about the two cases and ignored them as long as they did not violate other provisions of the Ming Law.
The two of them even asked the police below to reveal some details to the people from time to time to satisfy the people's "curiosity for knowledge" and avoid talking nonsense every day.
But this braggart suddenly found him and asked him to help him cover his lies.
Feng Delin originally wanted to refuse. Although Li Minghui was indeed a clerk at the Police Headquarters and was a talent from the Imperial College, he would not offend him. But this person was already very distant from Li Minghui. Judging from the appearance just now,
He is bragging again. He is probably not very close to Li Minghui, so there is no need to help him cover this lie.
But as he spoke, he suddenly thought of what the emperor said softly when he followed Qian Minglin to see the emperor. He changed his mind and said: "It is indeed as he said, there are several big families in Guangzhou."
Got involved in this matter."
When Feng Delin said this, everyone immediately became convinced: it's enough for one person to say this, but another person said this, and he was a policeman, so everyone couldn't help but believe it.
Everyone hurriedly came over to ask. Feng Delin did not dare to say more and just prevaricate a few words. After he had finished his meal, he immediately got up and left the tea house.
After he left, everyone talked for a while about how several big families in Guangzhou would be involved in this matter. Because no one dared to mention the specific family names, they quickly changed the topic and talked about the execution in three days.
things.
"For such a big case, I heard that there were thousands of people involved in the shear harvesting case alone! This doesn't include the Gao family. At least a few hundred people would have to be killed! If they were killed, there would be rivers of blood on the river beach.
Ah!" Lao Wang, who runs a herbal medicine shop next door, was very excited when he said this: "Except for the main culprit Ling Chi, with one order, the skulls of hundreds of other culprits rolled down, and the river turned red!"
He was dancing with joy as he spoke, and his face turned red with excitement.
Some people also said that Liu Dafu planned to drive all the prisoners into the river and drown them alive. This immediately aroused controversy. What if some of the prisoners were very good at water? Some people said that they must have sent a boat to watch and saw that some people were good at water.
Those who swim in the water should be poked with spears. Some people say that it is better to tie a bag of stones around everyone's neck. The fight will make their faces red and their ears red, and they will foam at the mouth.
"That's not what I heard. It is said that the emperor also hates them deeply, and wants to treat others with the same treatment as others, and also uses black magic on them so that they will not be able to rest in peace even after death!"
Then someone else said that they wanted to cut off the captured men and horses with big bones from top to bottom.
…
In the southern corner of the whole tea house, there are two people who look like scholars. They have been here since Feng Delin first entered the tea house. They have been listening quietly to everyone in the tea house without saying a word, but when Feng Delin
He only moved his eyebrows when he spoke before leaving. But at this time, he heard everyone's lively discussion about executing the prisoners. Among them, the younger man, who looked about thirty years old, said to the man opposite: "Brother Bai, what do you think?"
Will we really kill so many people in the future?"
The man he called Brother Bai looked to be nearly forty years old and had a beautiful beard on his chin. After hearing the words of the man in front of him, he said: "Brother Gu, how can the government be so stupid? These big-boned people...
Although the men and horses are hateful, most of them are just a bunch of wretches. This is probably the strategy of punishing the culprits and never accepting threats. Mei Yi will definitely not survive, and may even be in limbo, and the rest of them are probably exiled."
"This is a case of witchcraft. According to the "Great Ming Law", the whole family must be executed and the nine tribes must be wiped out, right?" Brother Gu said.
"Whether it is the laws of the Pre-Yuan Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, even the crime of witchcraft does not involve the nine tribes, so it is definitely not the case." Brother Bai said.
Brother Gu may still not believe what he said, but he didn't care about it. It was just a conversation starter. He made two more idle remarks and said: "The Gao family is directly
One of the masterminds behind the incident, their family was at least a massacre, and the nine clans would also be implicated; but there are other big families involved in this matter, and I don’t know how deep the involvement is. If the Jin Yiwei or the police were
If you find out, what will your Majesty do with it?"
Brother Bai smiled faintly and said: "My old man passed away three years ago. I am not yet forty years old, so I will not start thinking about things that I will not be able to bear when I grow old so early. You have also seen several of my brothers.
, nothing special, besides, I’m in charge of it; as for the other housekeepers, your family has never had any dealings with them.”
This brother Bai, named Bai Wenyu, is the head of another big family in Guangzhou. Someone in his family is currently serving as a fifth-rank official in the capital, and there are also distant relatives in the Guangzhou Guard. They are also related to the entire Guangdong Guard.
He married the Hua family of Wei Suo, which was very powerful in the family, and the power of the entire family was still higher than that of the Gao family.
That Brother Gu is from the Gu family, Gu Mingying, one of the three largest merchants in Guangzhou.
The relationship between the Gu family and the Bai family is like the relationship between the Li family and the Gao family. The Gu family gives the Bai family some money every year in exchange for the Bai family protecting their business.
The reason why the two of them met here today is also related to the two recent major cases. After the Gao family was arrested, the small households in Guangzhou did not feel that the high-ranking households were very worried, for fear that one day they would suddenly be arrested again.
Hundreds of soldiers surrounded his house, then rushed in to search and take away everyone from the master to the servants.
This is not unfounded worry. Although there are no families like the Gao family who have been involved in these two major cases, there are more than one people who have bought "big medicines", whether it is to remove stillborn fetuses, aphrodisiacs or other medicines.
If the government followed the lead and found the middleman and found out who was buying the medicine, they would not be able to take it and leave.
Bai Wenyu's words just now were a guarantee to Gu Mingying: No one in our family takes such "big medicine", and they will not be involved in cases of witchcraft; even if some branches of the family do this, it does not involve the Nine Clans.
It's a sin, it's okay.
As for why the two of them were talking in such a place today instead of in one of the houses, it was because the news was so tight recently. In order not to become the target of the police's attention, the two of them chose such an ordinary tea.
We live together and meet as if we were passing by by chance.
After hearing Bai Wenyu's words, Gu Mingying relaxed a little and said, "That's good, that's good. It's best if nothing happens."
"Speaking of which, the Li family woke up, abandoned the Gao family at the critical moment, and went to the palace to report to the emperor. Now they have received a lot of benefits, and they have been remembered by His Majesty. When the trial of the witchcraft case is clearly announced, maybe
To be able to receive a reward from His Majesty is worthy of being a businessman who has calculated things clearly."
"But I can't blame the Li family for doing this. I heard that the Gao family has really been asking for money too hard in the past few months, and their family may not be able to bear it. Besides, they can also climb the emperor's high branches. If I were the head of the Li family
It’s not necessarily that they won’t do this. But their approach still makes people uncomfortable.” Bai Wenyu said calmly.
But after Gu Mingying heard what he said, he couldn't be as calm as him. "Yes, yes, Brother Bai is right," he said.
As the head of a big family, Gu Mingying is certainly not a fool. He heard that Bai Wenyu was warning him. However, this matter of the Gao family is special, and it is difficult for anyone to be tempted, so Bai Wenyu said the second half
A few words to appease him.
The two talked for a few more words, Gu Mingying paid the bill, and they dispersed.