The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Amid the howling north wind, the territory of the Ming Empire cooled rapidly from north to south, and it was time for the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to cease navigation.

Cao Chuan and other merchant ships had already chosen to go south early to avoid the severe cold from the north. If they continued to stay in the north, they would inevitably end up being frozen.

At this time, on the Grand Canal, a fleet of ships was driven southward by the north wind, and few other ships were seen in front and behind.

The flags on the large ship at the head of this fleet were fluttering, and all kinds of ceremonial guards were hung, all of which revealed that it was an official ship.

Some of the dozen or so large and small ships behind are obviously official ships. From time to time, people in official uniforms can be seen walking around the bows, but more merchant ships have shipowners wearing ordinary civilian clothes. in activity.

After the news that Wei Guangde was going south on errands spread in Beijing, Wei Guangde was preparing to salute and arrange household chores, while sending people to the Ministry of Etiquette to collect various documents and honors, just to set off before the canal was frozen.

For the businessmen who had been preparing for the last shipment of this year and waiting to return to their hometown in Jiujiang for the holidays, they immediately sent people to contact Wei Guangde like sharks smelling the smell of blood, with the purpose of going south together.

This was not the first time, so Wei Guangde nodded and agreed.

This trip is also very different from the past for Wei Guangde.

The two previous times he was sent to Beijing on missions, he was only a deputy envoy, and there was also a principal envoy above him. But this time he was no longer a deputy envoy, but went south to handle the case on behalf of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Because preparations had been made before, Wei Guangde accepted the order at the Metropolitan Procuratorate. You can imagine the envious and jealous eyes of his colleagues around him at that time, and there were many people who wished he could replace him.

As an imperial envoy and a supervisory censor, going to Beijing on missions is a job that most censors in the Metropolitan Procuratorate dream of. It can be said to be a time of infinite glory for censors.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were often books recording the terms "censor of inspection" and "censor of supervision". In fact, they both referred to the same type of person, that is, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The reason why there are different names is because their tasks are different.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate set up thirteen supervisory censors. They had to take turns to go out of Beijing to inspect local areas. During the inspection, they were patrolling the censors. After the inspection, they returned to each province and engaged in a specific task. They were also called censors. Supervisory censor.

The roles of the supervisory censor and the patrol censor interchange with each other, and the daily supervision and the inspection by the patrol minister are also interlinked with each other.

This time the task is to supervise the trials of the criminals involved in the case in Suzhou and the prison sentences in Hangzhou, which is different from the previous border patrol in the North.

The fleet moved very fast. Just like last time, the fleet was divided into two teams after leaving Yangzhou and entering the Yangtze River. One team went upstream and returned to Jiujiang Prefecture, while Wei Guangde's official ship went down the river and entered the Jiangnan Canal. It is the Zhenjiang to Hangzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

The fleet docked at Suzhou Pier. Governor Yingtian Weng Dali and officials from the Suzhou Prefecture and other officials came to greet them. The officials from Nanjing who came to participate in the trial had already arrived, but they were all waiting for the trial in the prefect's Yamen and did not come over. Welcome, after all, we are all imperial envoys who are ordered to handle cases.

Wei Guangde got off the boat first and greeted the officials on shore. Wei Guangde only took one more look at Weng Dali. His official position was no longer stable. It was only because of the timely and appropriate remediation later that the black gauze on his head was not removed now, but it was almost over. .

In fact, when Wei Guangde went south, the court had already discussed who should replace him as governor of Yingtian. It was thought that after the official evaluation was completed at the end of the year, he would be dismissed and return to his hometown.

Weng Dali's friends in Beijing also sent him news. He knew that his official career was probably over, but Weng Dali still made great efforts to welcome Wei Guangde this time, hoping to get more useful information from Wei Guangde.

He had heard that although Editor Wei's official position was not high, he still had a high status in Xiyuan.

The practice of discussing seniority when civil servants meet does not happen in Suzhou Pier today. It is really out of date.

There was a custom among civil servants in the Ming Dynasty when they met for the first time, that is, they would tell themselves their family background, which year they were a Jinshi, and who their room master was, so that they could establish connections with each other.

It's just that Weng Dali saw that his resignation was a foregone conclusion, so it was meaningless to talk about it. After a few simple greetings, he invited Wei Guangde to get into the prepared car and go to the Suzhou Prefecture Yamen.

After his governor's office was set on fire by the evil young man, he just found a temporary residence in another courtyard and had no intention of returning to the governor's office. He might as well wait for the next governor to take over the matter.

That night, the front and back halls of the Suzhou magistrate's office were filled with lanterns and candles. Officials from Nanjing and local Suzhou officials were all present. It was also a welcome feast.

At this banquet, Wei Guangde also met other officials who participated in the trial, He Qian, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and Bai Qichang, the young minister of Dali Temple in Nanjing.

He Qian is quite enthusiastic about Wei Guangde. They are all fellow Jiangxi people, and the most important thing is that the person who arranged for him to come here to try the case is Wei Guangde's old acquaintance and old leader Weng Pu.

Soon after the Battle of Baoanzhou ended, Weng Pu was transferred from the Minister of War to the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment in Nanjing, so he came to Nanjing to retire.

Although the power of ministers in Nanjing is not as high as that in Beijing, the level has been improved after all, and Weng Pu is already old and has no intention of continuing to advance.

In this case of Suzhou Prefecture, he was slightly surprised when he heard that the censor sent by the Capital Procuratorate was Wei Guangde, so he sent Wei Guangde's fellow villagers over, and He Qian taught Wei Guangde some local criminal cases. Methods.

After the banquet ended, Wei Guangde returned to the resting area and had a good sleep.

The previous days were spent in the cabin. In just half a day, Wei Guangde had not fully adapted. Lying on the bed, he felt as if he was still shaking on the ship.

On the second day, Wei Guangde got up and washed up under the service of Zhang Ji. He still moved his hands and feet in the yard as at home and did some exercise.

During breakfast, Wei Guangde said to Zhang Ji: "We will disperse today to inquire about the news. Tell them not to rush. First, find out the following situation clearly, and then contact the businessmen on the list to learn more details."

"Don't worry, sir. I have assigned the errands as instructed before. Everyone has their own prefecture and county to be responsible for. The Jiujiang businessmen who have been contacted have also been assigned. There will be no mistakes."

Zhang Ji hurriedly replied.

Just like last time, the night before Wei Guangde was about to leave, Chen Ju, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, quietly came to his door again.

Wei Guangde did not show any impatience, but received him warmly as usual.

As for the purpose of his visit, Wei Guangde also had his own guess. Like before, it might be the person from Xiyuan who asked him to learn something along the way while running errands.

Sure enough, after sending others away, Chen Ju explained the purpose of his trip to Wei Guangde in detail.

Emperor Jiajing wants to know the current situation of increased taxes and levies in Jiangnan and the reaction of the people to this.

Wei Guangde can understand this.

As far as he knew, the increased taxes and levies caused some farmers who were already financially strapped to go bankrupt and had no choice but to sell their land and become tenant farmers. Jiangnan's flexible business tax of lijin increased the burden on merchants, and many small businesses Businessmen no longer go out to do business. The cost is too high and it is unprofitable.

Of course, the difficulties faced by businessmen were also what Wei Guangde heard from Jiangxi businessmen.

Business people naturally have their own business partners, so they often hear similar complaints.

However, Wei Guangde disagreed with this.

Although there are fewer people doing business, there are still people doing it, which means it is still profitable. It is just that big businessmen have occupied part of the market of small businessmen.

In fact, what Wei Guangde cared about was not what Emperor Jiajing asked him to do, but whether there was any hidden meaning behind it.

Was Emperor Jiajing beginning to be dissatisfied with Hu Zongxian, or was he really concerned about the suffering of the people?

However, Chen Ju did not give Wei Guangde an answer, which made Wei Guangde realize that perhaps his relationship with Chen Ju seemed to be over.

Although he was puzzled, Wei Guangde could only send Chen Ju out.

After that, it was natural to arrange how to complete the errands assigned by the emperor.

Regarding the public sentiment about the increase in taxes and levies, this can only be done by arranging servants to go down to the local area to inquire about the situation. There is no shortcut. However, Lijin can inquire with businessmen, which is easier to do.

After hearing Zhang Ji's assurance, Wei Guangde nodded and started eating breakfast.

There were many people following Wei Guangde south this time, including people from the Department of Public Affairs and yamen servants from the Ministry of Rites. No one would notice that Wei Guangde's entourage was missing a few people. After all, they were not from any yamen, just Wei Guangde's. Servant.

Today, the lobby of the Suzhou magistrate's office seemed very crowded. In the past, there was only one public case on it, but now there are three of them side by side.

After the third team of government officials stood still under the lobby, Wei Guangde followed He Qian and Bai Qichang and walked out from behind.

Wei Guangde's position is the desk on the far right, He Qian is sitting in the middle, and Bai Qichang is on the left.

There are two smaller desks on both sides of the three desks. At this time, Weng Dali, the governor of Yingtian, and Wang Daoxing, the prefect of Suzhou, were sitting there.

After just a few simple greetings, everyone sat down.

At the banquet last night, Wei Guangde heard it. No matter it was He Qian or Bai Qichang, they wanted to close the case as soon as possible so that they could return to Nanjing for the New Year.

Although the Suzhou case has a great impact, the facts are clear, the evidence is conclusive, the witnesses and material evidence are complete, and the prisoner's confession is also available. In fact, it can be sentenced without a trial at all.

The gang of villains headed by Tuesday have committed many crimes in Suzhou over the years, and the public resentment is overwhelming. Now that they are about to be executed, the people of Suzhou are naturally happy and applauding.

No, the case hasn't started yet, but many civilians have already gathered outside the magistrate's office.

In fact, in the past few days, Suzhou Prefecture's Yamen has received many civil petitions, all of which complained about the oppression suffered by Tuesday and others back then. However, most of these cases were ignored at the time. Now that there is an opportunity, naturally there are complaints and complaints. They wanted to take revenge and came to sue one after another.

It was also because of these petitions that Bai Qichang complained to Wei Guangde during the dinner that with so many petitions, just summoning the plaintiffs, witnesses, and prisoners did not know how long it would take.

At this juncture, officials like them have no choice but to accept the civil documents. Even though they know that these grievances are confirmed, the prisoners will still die. It is impossible for people to die several times.

"This is the procedure, the procedure for handling cases. Even if Tuesday's crime is extremely heinous and is already a capital crime, we still have to collect other people's petitions and make judgments.

What was originally a very simple case has become so complicated. "

After the banquet, He Qian complained to Wei Guangde when everyone went back to the house to rest, and by the way, he also taught Wei Guangde some common sense about trial cases.

Not only was he worried that Wei Guangde did not understand the procedures, but the main reason was that Weng Pu had repeatedly warned him before leaving Nanjing.

Although Wei Guangde impeached several people in the capital, impeachment is one thing, and trial is another.

He Qian was sent here because both of them are fellow Jiangxi people and there is no doubt that they will support each other in their official careers in the future. He Qian is only forty years old now and can still stay in the officialdom for more than ten or twenty years. He will be transferred from Nanjing in the future. The capital is also known.

Weng Pu really had nothing to say to Wei Guangde.

Soon, a large pile of papers was picked up by the Yamen servant and placed on the desks of the three of them. At this time, Wei Guangde was also shocked.

A piece of pleading is a plaintiff. How many people are there? It is estimated that there will be hundreds of pleadings.

Of course, not all of these pleadings were filed against Tuesday, but also against other people in this case, but this was serious.

There were only about 20 principal criminals and main accomplices, and the average spread was dozens of copies per person. This was just for complaining. Most people probably knew that these people would die, so many grievances were not reported to the prefect's Yamen. Come.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but look at Weng Dali and then at Wang Daoxing.

Weng Dali's original plan to crack down on the evil young men was indeed correct, but he did not expect that these evil young men were accustomed to being domineering for a long time. When he suddenly heard that the government wanted to punish them, the backlash would be so fierce.

Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Weng Dali in his heart. He was a good official who worked for the people, but he was unfortunately unlucky.

At this time, Weng Dali and Wang Daoxing's faces were flushed.

So many pleadings can only show that when they were in office, Suzhou was not peaceful.

It was easy for Weng Dali to explain, after all, he had just taken over as governor of Yingtian not long ago, and he also discovered the problems in Suzhou Prefecture, but it was just that he did not handle them properly, which led to the irreversible incident.

But Wang Daoxing is not the case. He has served as the prefect of Suzhou for a long time. He naturally knows these things. However, due to the background and relationships of these people, he is often at a loss to deal with them.

"The magistrate who destroys the family, the governor who destroys the family", although this is said, it is only aimed at ordinary people, or some people from the middle and lower classes, who have no connections and no background.

As for Tuesday's group, not only themselves, but also the families behind them have already weaved a huge network of relationships in the local area over the years, and they often look after each other secretly.

Wang Daoxing once tried to arrest some of them, but the result was that the entire Suzhou Prefecture almost lost control, so he had to let go.

He almost couldn't control the people in the prefect's yamen, so he slowly placed his own people in place, and finally succeeded in saving his career during the riot and suppressed the riot.

"let's start."

Looking at the paper in front of him, He Qian shook his head gently, looked around before speaking.