Zhao Yidao and Fatty Lin had been suffering for three days and nights.
Governor Wang had a humanitarian spirit in extorting confessions. He neither beat nor scolded him. He would not let anyone sleep, and would prick him with a needle when he was about to fall asleep. The same questions were intertwined and mixed together, and he was asked twenty or thirty times, and the two were
The criminals were driven crazy by the questions.
"This is a confession, please read it over to the commander-in-chief." Ning Botao submitted the confession.
Ning Botao, a gangster, whose real name is unknown.
I guess I read too much "Water Margin" and imitated the story of Liangshan heroes. I joined the Taihu water bandit gang at a young age. Because of some scandalous things, I got into trouble with the water bandit leader, so I left Taihu with more than ten brothers and started working in Taihu.
Prefectures and counties in southern Zhili rob the rich and give to the poor.
This guy has an excellent reputation in the world. He specializes in plundering unkind gentry and merchants to make them rich. He only takes 10% of the wealth and distributes 70% to his subordinates. The remaining 20% is used to relieve the people.
For example, before joining Wang Yuan, there was a poor scholar in Qingpu County who was admitted as a scholar at the age of seventeen. In order to take care of his sick widowed mother, he was willing to teach in the village school and all the money he earned was used to treat the widowed mother's illness.
Qian went to Nanjing to take the provincial examination. When Ning Botao heard about this, he immediately went to the scholar's house in the middle of the night and threw a hundred taels of silver in from the window.
Of course, when he came to seek refuge with Wang Yuan, Ning Botao refused to admit that he was a bandit and insisted on saying that he was a hero. He recruited three merchants from Huzhou to sell goods, and also recruited dozens of Taihu water bandits. Now they are all here
Wang Yuan's account is for your benefit.
"Thank you for your hard work." Wang Yuan nodded and smiled.
Ning Botao smiled, but felt a little scared.
The governor's methods were so despicable that Ning Botao had never dreamed that torture could be used to extract confessions like this. At the end of the fatigue interrogation, Zhao Yidao and Fatty Lin fell asleep directly and could not wake up even with a needle.
Wang Yuan opened the compiled confession, his face neither angry nor happy, and there was no sign of any emotional fluctuations.
"Lin Zhao, courtesy name Guangde, studied at a young age but never went to school. He has been farming for generations. He is a native of Liang Village, Qinghe Countryside, Dinghai County. In the second year of Zhengde, he bribed the chief registrar of Dinghai County and served as a county official (without salary). In the fifth year of Zhengde,
In 2007, Xianmei became a concubine with Kongmu Wu Zheng, an officer in charge of the Ningbo Municipal Shipping Department. Because the Municipal Shipping Secretary Ya was on an errand, he borrowed the power of collecting corvees and came to the Fish and Meat Township. Half a month ago, his brother-in-law Wu Zheng came to the door and forced him to
He went to Hangzhou to hire people to burn down the warehouse. This matter seems to have been ordered by Wang Chen, the head of Yahang."
"Zhao Yidao, whose real name is Zhao Hong, lost his father when he was young. He also lost his mother, brother and sister when he was young. He once lived in Quzhou as a thief with a vicious personality and was determined to retaliate. He returned home at the age of thirty and settled in Hangzhou. He just hung out and never married a wife.
.I was an old acquaintance with Lin Zhaonai, and under his entrustment, I forced Chang Sangui to burn down the warehouse."
That's all the useful information from the two men's confessions.
Wang Yuan slowly put down the confession and called a flag officer from Shenji Camp: "Take people to Ningbo immediately and order the prefect to arrest Ningbo official Ya Kongmu Wu Zheng! You follow the whole process and don't leak the information to prevent Wu Zheng from being arrested.
People are silenced.”
"yes!"
This small flag immediately led his troops to Ningbo.
A few days later, news came back that Ningbo Guanya Kongmu Wu Zheng had been dead for several days, and seemed to have committed suicide out of fear of crime.
The clue is lost!
"Zhang Yong must have secretly instigated it. The eunuch of the Ningbo Shipping Department is not that bold yet," He Tang speculated.
Wang Yuan asked: "How much does He Tiju know about Zhang Yong?"
He Tang said: "Greedy, bold, accustomed to flattery, and have personal relationships with His Majesty's former ministers who have stayed in the residence!"
Zhu Houzhao's East Palace team is now either in the cabinet, or in the Sixth Ministry and Kedao. Except for Zhishi and Ding You, the worst is from the third rank. Eunuch Zhang Yong actually has friendship with all of these people.
With the favor of the emperor inside and the help of civil servants outside, this guy was also the admiral of three sides and held 10,000 capital camps in his hands. Moreover, Zhang Yong also made many friends with nobles and had everything inside and outside.
Even though he knew that this man was destroying Kaihai, Wang Yuan couldn't do anything about him.
In the absence of definite evidence, even if Wang Yuan went to the emperor to report the matter, Zhang Yong could just throw out Cui Yao, the admiral of the Ningbo Shipping Department, to take the blame.
"Take your time." Wang Yuan smiled instead of getting angry.
This is a eunuch who has left a name in history, and he has a good reputation.
Killed Liu Jin, destroyed Qian Ning, quelled the rebellion of King Anhua, commanded and exterminated Liu Liu and Liu Qi, admiral to defend Mongolia on three sides, and issued new money to prohibit private coining... There are many such achievements, some of which were done by Zhang Yong himself, and some of which were done by Zhang Yong.
He shared the credit, but overall he was a accomplished eunuch. In addition, he helped many civil servants, so he naturally had to be praised vigorously when writing histories.
But this guy didn't have a good reputation during the Zhengde period. He was still corrupt and domineering. He occupied land in the suburbs of Beijing and moved thousands of taels of money from the treasury to his own home. He was impeached no less than Wang Yuan.
He Tang took a bite of the West Lake Vinegar Fish, drank the wine and said with a smile: "You hate Zhang Yong in your heart, but he still hates you. The eunuchs and admirals of several major shipping departments are all Zhang Yong's subordinates, and they won't let the sea open.
If the eunuch intervenes, how much money is this equivalent to robbing him? If you agree to let the eunuch supervise the Hangzhou Shipping Department, Zhang Yong guarantees that he will be the most supportive of your opening up the sea!"
Wang Yuan laughed loudly: "Have I offended both eunuchs and civil servants?"
He Tang said: "Just wait and see, once the opening of the sea is successful, Zhang Yong will definitely go out to pick peaches. Why can't civil servants be trusted? They have to be supervised by the emperor's slaves. Maybe one day, the Hangzhou Shipping Department will also be under Zhang's control."
Take it away forever."
"If that happens, I will also follow the example of the princes in the dynasty and resign from office several times a month to pass the time." Wang Yuan said happily.
It's not that Wang Yuan looks down on eunuchs, it's that eunuchs are particularly troublesome.
Emperor Jiajing was so distrustful of civil servants that he gradually withdrew his eunuchs from various places to guard them. The real reason was that those eunuchs made the emperor even look down on him.
If there is a military situation in various places, eunuchs from the royal family will be sent to guard the place. Their main responsibility is to quell the rebellion and bring peace to the people. As a result, they often use money and food to return fish and meat to the people. If there is no military situation in the local area, eunuchs from the royal family will be sent to guard the place. Their main responsibility is to provide food and drink to the people.
The emperor's search for "local specialties" became even more unscrupulous, often forcing the people to rebel.
"This thing is very good," He Tang pointed at the West Lake vinegar fish and joked, "I want to be greedy for some money so that I can eat this vinegar fish every day."
Wang Yuan smiled and asked: "Admiral Jin (Jin Xianmin) is quite cooperative?"
"That's so cooperative. He, the Admiral of the Shipping Department, is like a clock-ringing monk. He doesn't care about anything. I have full authority to decide on the affairs of the Shipping Department," He Tang sighed, "For thirty or forty ships, the seagoing duties are collected.
More than 40,000 taels, not counting the income from selling sea food. The tax money paid to the Ministry of Household Affairs every year must be more than one million (not counting the money given to the emperor and the three divisions)!"
Wang Yuan joked: "If Shi Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue gets one million taels of tax silver, will he scold me for competing with the people for profit?"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
He Tang couldn't stop laughing: "I'm afraid he's hoping that you can get more profits back, and the Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue is so poor that the rats are running around."
Wang Yuan sarcastically said: "That's just to act like a good boy when you get a bargain, and spend the money I earned while scolding me for not abiding by the imperial system."
He Tang said: "If we can give two million taels to the Ministry of Revenue every year, maybe we can silence Shangshu Shi."
"Haha, shut up," Wang Yuan suddenly sneered, "Zhang Yong sent someone to set the fire, and I'm afraid the cabinet was involved. Who gave him the bad idea?"
"You mean Liang Shuhou (Liang Chu)?" He Tang asked.
Wang Yuan laughed and said: "Haha, you are just guessing. Eat your own fish."