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Xu Huai knelt down again with lightning speed, crying in a low voice: "I beg the Lord Angel to be the master, contract those projects, the Zheng family colluded with the government, how can the grassroots compete with the government? There is also the ticket office business, The Zheng family colluded with the government and smeared my Xu family for tax evasion. Caomin admitted that he did evade taxes the first time. However, the Caomin had accepted the punishment and changed his mind, but the Zheng family wanted to kill them all. The second investigation showed that the Caomin did not evade taxes. For this move, they were forced to close the ticket office in the city for more than three months. When it reopened after three months, most of the business was robbed!"

Private bank, private bank, this kind of business has not been completely banned.

But both the bank and the bank have to pay a deposit to Datong Bank, and there is also a cap on the interest on lending.

Private banks are mainly engaged in money exchange, deposit and loan business. Due to the existence of Datong Bank, the number of private banks across the country is decreasing day by day.

Private bank accounts are getting more and more prosperous!

In particular, the Longyou Merchant Gang is mostly engaged in long-distance trafficking, and the circulation of goods and capital is very slow, often requiring a large amount of capital advances.In the case of insufficient funds, it has to borrow from outsiders.

For Datong Bank's loans, the review process is very strict, and the review time is at least half a month.

Therefore, the merchants of the Longyou Merchant Gang prefer to borrow from private banks.

They have their own set of rules, peers in the same industry, each relying on their own beliefs, no written evidence, and the flow of water follows the market.

In particular, the lack of written evidence has caused a lot of headaches for the government, and it has become very difficult to determine the tax amount.But for merchants, there are basically no problems, because the ticket number business is purely based on word-of-mouth, and once the word-of-mouth is broken, it will all be over.

Dai Wenmeng and Mei Zhuyou looked at each other, and they both felt that there must be something rewarding today.

The Zheng family took advantage of the government's illegal operations, resulting in the Xu family bank being ordered to rectify for three months.For merchants, this is already an endless hatred.

Dai Wenmeng asked: "Why did the Zheng family collude with the government to harm you? Even if it was to rob the business, they wouldn't do it so badly, it would be easy to be caught."

Xu Huai sighed and said, "Oh, it's been a long time. The owner of the Zheng family is Zheng Hongyi. When a business trip to Yunnan went wrong, his father was sent by his grandfather to solve it. At that time, all people and goods were gone. Zheng My family's business in Shandong happened to meet with the White Lotus Sect's uprising, and several warehouses were robbed. My father...my father saw the Zheng family's collapse, so...he regretted the marriage. My third sister, who should have Married to Zheng Hongyi."

"Go ahead." Dai Wenmeng nodded.

Xu Huai had a constipated expression on his face: "Zheng Hongyi is narrow-minded, and he must repay his grievances. He was a scholar at that time, and the news of his remorse spread throughout Quzhou, which he regarded as a great shame and shame. Alas, he even gave up the imperial examination and ran to the Bailian sect to rebel. Shandong, which has not calmed down, has actually made a lot of money in a few years."

"When he returned to Quzhou, my father also died of illness. Enemies should be resolved rather than knotted, so I want to repair the relationship between the two families. The third sister is already married, so I plan to marry the fifth sister to him. Who knows, he With a stick in hand, beat the matchmaker out of the house. After that, she will not stop dying, no matter what business you do, you will sing against my Xu family."

"When the Datong Army went to Zhejiang, Zheng Hongyi took refuge early and donated a thousand shi of grain as military funds. His second son, Zheng Langzhong from the Ministry of Industry, also linked up with the uprising of scholars in western Zhejiang and helped His Majesty win the war. Thanks to this contribution, the Zheng family has become more and more prosperous, and the business has completely overwhelmed my Xu family."

Dai Wenmeng subconsciously looked at Mei Zhuyou, and both of them understood what was going on.

It turned out that the Zheng family was the first group of people in Zhejiang to take refuge in the Datong court, and their son even led scholars to occupy the county.This is a great contribution!

With this kind of credit and qualifications, many of the officials in Quzhou Prefecture are of course the same as the Zheng family.Even the peasant soldiers and the peasant association have a large number of members from the Zheng family.Some officials turned a blind eye to the Zheng family's violation of the law, perhaps not all because of greed for money, but also because they couldn't save face.

After all, they and the Zheng family are comrades-in-arms who fought together!

Dai Wenmeng asked again: "The Zheng family occupied the vegetable market in Fucheng and forced farmers to sell vegetables at a low price. What's going on? With the Zheng family's financial resources, there is no need to do this."

Mei Zhuyou scolded: "Don't lie, once you are found out that you are lying, you will definitely be punished severely!"

Xu Huai shivered all over, and smiled and said: "That's a side branch of the Zheng family. The main family doesn't care about the money from the vegetable market, but the side branch can't be sure. The Zheng family is the same as my Xu family, both in Quzhou There are countless people with the surname Zheng."

"In other words, occupying the vegetable market and oppressing farmers has nothing to do with Zheng Hongyi?" Dai Wenmeng asked.

Xu Huai laughed and said, "How can it be irrelevant? The tribe used his name to bully the market in Quzhou, and Zheng Hongyi is not deaf or blind."

"This guy claims to be a hero of the Great Harmony, and he tells everyone that he has led a horse for His Majesty. He didn't lead a horse for His Majesty. His Majesty's army passed by Quzhou, and he led a horse for His Majesty. His Majesty didn't know that at the time. See him empty."

"But he can scare a lot of people by saying this. The new officials also think that he is Jane's favorite in the emperor's heart, so they don't dare to quarrel with him easily. The fourth son, married Li Ge's nephew's daughter, his second son was promoted by His Majesty to be a doctor, Zheng Hongyi is even more defiant."

"Once, he even told people that the surname of this world is Zhao, and the surname of Quzhou is Zheng. He said that he has made great contributions in the new dynasty, even if His Majesty came personally, he would not punish the Zheng family for small things. He is not only unrestrained, but also extremely defensive. When the tribe was arrested, he even spent money to fish them out."

That is to say, Zheng Hongyi didn't make any money from occupying the vegetable market and oppressing farmers, and even gave money to the clan members who broke the law.

This person seems to be acting boldly and lawlessly for the sake of pleasure and face.

Mostly because of his personality, otherwise he would not have given up the imperial examination because of the divorce and went to do business in the war-torn Shandong.After making a comeback, he rejected the woman's overtures, and even refused to marry another younger sister, and beat the matchmaker to directly tear the face off with the Xu family.

In Zheng Hongyi's side, his face is greater than the sky, and he also has face for protecting his tribe.

Dai Wenmeng asked again: "Didn't Zheng Hongyi do it himself by contracting the project and cutting corners?"

Xu Huai explained: "Zheng Hongyi personally intervened only in the ticket office and jewelry business. He didn't bother to take care of other small businesses. Contracting government projects and deducting workers' wages were all done by his brother-in-law. His brother-in-law also After Zheng Hongyi found out that the Zheng family was doing evil, instead of punishing him, he always protected him."

"Apart from this, what other things have the Zheng clan committed?" Dai Wenmeng asked.

Xu Huai said: "There is a murder case, I also heard it from people. His brother-in-law, after drinking, quarreled with the man and accidentally beat him to death on the spot. This guy spent money to eliminate the disaster, and spent a lot of money with the family of the sufferer. They also spent money to ask someone to take the blame, and then bought two levels of judges in Tongqu Prefecture and Xi'an County, and finally only sentenced the person who committed the crime to exile in Taiwan."

Plum and Zhuyou sighed: "Murder case. Do you know the name and address of the victim? We will investigate later."

Xu Huai must have inquired secretly, and immediately said: "The sufferer is Shu Shouyi, who lives in Pinglefang, nicknamed Shu Da. He is a drunk and likes to drink. The two angels went to Pinglefang, and they knew where he lived. He died. After that, his wife, Fan, has remarried and moved to Zhupeng Town, Longyou County. The fifth family in the east of the town is a blacksmith."

Dai Wenmeng laughed and said, "You can inquire clearly. Is there any murder case in the Zheng family?"

Xu Huai said: "It's also heard, I don't know if it's true or not. There was a guy named Sun in the Zheng family who went out to run away and never returned. The Zheng family claimed that this guy Sun was killed by local soldiers in Guizhou. But The guy who went with him came back, but someone faintly told the truth. He said that the guy Sun had dirty hands and feet, swallowed more than a dozen taels of silver, and was beaten to death by Zheng Hongyi's nephew."

Mei Zhuyou asked: "What is the name of Zheng Hongyi's nephew? Where does he live? What is the name of Mr. Sun? Where does he live?"

Xu Huai quickly told the details again.

Back and forth, a total of six murders were mentioned!

Chapter 532 [Exploration]

"Master, master, uncle has been arrested!"

The housekeeper rushed into the room, and Zheng Hongyi hadn't even spoken when his wife came in crying.

Seeing that, Zheng Hongyi had a headache.

He is indeed extremely defensive and often shields his relatives.But this doesn't mean that he likes his relatives to make troubles every day, and his brother-in-law has already made Zheng Hongyi extremely bored.

"What happened again?" Zheng Hongyi said angrily.

His wife, Feng Shi, panicked and said, "It's the case of Shu Da, and Ming Ju was arrested again!"

Zheng Hongyi was immediately unhappy: "This case was closed last year, why did it come out again? Could it be that the person surnamed Fu is about to leave his post and wants to make some money before he leaves?"

"It has nothing to do with Mr. Fu," Feng said, "it belongs to Mr. Shu, go to the government to complain. Mr. Fu entrusted someone to report the letter, let our family spend some more money, and don't go to the magistrate's yamen."

"No reason!"

Zheng Hongyi said angrily: "Shu Da's case has already been paid to the Shu family. It has only been a year, and they have to complain about their grievances. Is it possible that they complain about their grievances every year, and our family pays money every year? This money can't be given. Once it is given It's over, it's over!"

Feng said worriedly: "What if troubles really come to the prefect's yamen? Master Li (Fu Tongzhi) said that the prefect has already suspected He Di. If Shu Da's case is also targeted by the prefect, I'm afraid... I'm afraid it's... "

"Don't be afraid," Zheng Hongyi raised his hand and said, "This magistrate Huang is from His Majesty's maidservant. Our daughter-in-law is the grandniece of Mr. Li Ge. Huang Zhifu and Mr. Li Ge are both ministers of the dragon. Will you still have trouble with your own family? Even if Huang Zhifu doesn't give me face for Zheng's family, he still has to give some face to Mr. Li Ge."

Zheng Hongyi said to the steward again: "You go to the court to watch and see what's going on. Also, ask the Shu family why they want to appeal their grievances and overturn the case. Do they not want to live anymore?"

Two hours later, the housekeeper came back to report: "Master, the Shu family said that they did not overturn the case, and it was the Fan family who filed the complaint."

Zheng Hongyi frowned, and muttered to himself: "A woman has remarried, why would she risk offending the Zheng family and suddenly come out to complain to her ex-husband?"

The housekeeper hesitated to speak.

"Say!" Zheng Hongyi scolded.

The housekeeper said: "Master, I heard people say that the money we gave was swallowed up by the Shu family, and none of the money was left to the Fan family. Not only that, the Shu family also forced the Fan family to remarry to Long You. A widower. The widower is 50 years old, and in order to marry Fan, he gave the Shu family a dowry gift of five taels of silver."

Zheng Hongyi was startled when he heard that, and then he couldn't laugh or cry: "The Shu family eats at both ends!"

Shu Da, who was beaten to death by mistake, was already a drunk and prodigal son, and his family had already had enough of him.Family affection has been indifferent, it would be better to be beaten to death, not to mention getting compensation money.

The members of the Shu family swallowed up the money and almost sold Shu Da's widow to a widower in the name of remarriage.

Inside and out, making money twice, of course they won't overturn the case.

Zheng Hongyi said: "Send a servant to contact Fan's in secret. She must have not received any money and was forced to marry an old widower. The more she thought about it, the more angry she became, and she went to the police again. Give her 20 Two, tell her not to make trouble anymore, otherwise... what does her husband do now?"

The butler said, "I run an iron shop in Zhupeng Town."

Zheng Hongyi said: "If she makes trouble again, her family's blacksmith shop will not be able to continue!"

……

There are two levels of courts in the capital city of Quzhou.

One is the Xi'an County Court, and the other is the Quzhou Prefecture Court.

The official position of the official who was in charge of the prison was abolished and replaced by the judge of the government and the judge of the government (prosecutor).

The arrest of Zheng Hongyi's brother-in-law this time was approved by the criminal officer, and the police arrested him and locked him up pending trial.

In the prison, Feng Risheng lived in a single room and was drinking with the chief jailer.

"Master Feng, this room has been cleaned and cleaned several times, but the musty smell can't be completely removed. You are old, and you have been wronged for a few days." The chief jailer said with a smile.

Feng Risheng sipped the wine, nodded in approval: "It's a good job, and I can't do without your benefits."

The head jailer hurriedly toasted: "Thank you, Mr. Feng, for your cultivation!"

Feng Risheng said: "Have you found out the matter clearly?"

The head of the jailer explained: "The Shu family took the money, but did not distribute it to Fan. They also forced Fan to remarry an old widower, and took the opportunity to collect a sum of money as a gift. Fan must have been upset, so he came out and handed in a complaint. Sentence Master sent someone to tell Master Feng to stay here for a few days, and the case will be resolved when Fan is calmed down."

"What's the trouble?" Feng Risheng felt wronged.

The chief jailer sighed and said, "Master Feng, today is different from the past. After the prefect Huang was transferred to Quzhou, many things are not as easy as before."

Feng Risheng sneered and said: "A woman from a family who doesn't care for her husband and raise her children well even came to be an official. What are you afraid of her doing?"

"This prefect Huang, after all, is the hero who followed His Majesty in the Wuxing Town," said the chief jailer. "If she were a man, she would probably be a minister of the central government. If you really annoy her, you can directly bring the matter to the emperor." There."

Feng Risheng was also very helpless about this, he shook his head and smiled wryly: "Forget it, just treat me as unlucky to meet such a magistrate."

……

government office.

Huang Fei, also known as Xiao Hong, was chatting with a "merchant".

"How bad is Quzhou officialdom?" Huang Fei asked.

Dai Wenmeng said: "The judges, judges, and justices at the prefecture and county levels are basically rotten. This time I encouraged Fan to appeal and overturn the case, just to test the situation. The result was very bad. Although Feng Risheng was arrested, but in the Food and drinks are served inside. The reason why we know how he is in the prison is that he went in under the name of visiting the prison, and the jailer can be bribed for a tael of silver. .”

Huang Fei suppressed her anger in her heart and said: "It has been half a year since I was transferred to Quzhou. No matter what kind of affairs, officials at all levels are very cooperative. The Longyou merchant gang is growing day by day, with frequent business trips, and some factories have been built. Taxes have risen year after year. Alas, I thought Quzhou was already in great order, but I didn't expect that I was just a muddled official."

"You don't have to blame yourself," Dai Wenmeng said. "The corruption of Quzhou's officialdom did not happen overnight. It is not easy for the governor to take the initiative to open the pustules. In the cases we have investigated, many local officials did not dare to open the windows. The paper is torn."

Huang Fei asked, "How many corrupt officials can the Metropolitan Procuratorate detect every year?"

Dai Wenmeng said: "It's hard to say, sometimes it's more and sometimes less. Last year, the Henan Transshipment deputy envoy's corruption case involved two or three hundred officials in one case, which was much bigger than the Quzhou case. Of course, officials generally practice favoritism, corruption, and bribery. It’s done very secretly. It’s known to the whole city that Quzhou is so noisy, but I haven’t encountered it in the past two years.”

"Your responsibilities are more interesting than governing the local area," Huang Fei laughed suddenly. "After the case in Quzhou is settled, I will ask the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Maybe we will be colleagues in the future."

Dai Wenmeng was stunned for a moment, then remembered that Huang Fei's background was very strong, as long as she made a request, she might really be transferred directly to the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Dai Wenmeng persuaded: "Master Huang, the censor of the Datong New Dynasty is not the censor of the Ming Dynasty. He is often sent to the provinces to run around, and sometimes even eats and sleeps in the open. I don't despise women, but... women are really inconvenient What's more, where my husband..."

Huang Fei said calmly, "I'm divorced."

"Uh..." Devon Meng was at a loss for words.

……

Longyou County, Zhupeng Town.

The blacksmith is forging farm tools, and it is so lively.

A few idlers walked into the iron shop, and the apprentices hurriedly greeted them: "What do you want to do? Iron pots, iron ladles, hoes, sickles... My master can beat, and his craftsmanship is very good."

The idler in the lead said, "You, get out!"

"Huh?" The apprentice didn't understand.

The idle man said: "We are here to collect debts today. Your master owes us ten taels of silver."

A 50-year-old blacksmith turned around slowly when he heard the words, and said with a hammer in his hand, "I don't even know you, when did I owe you ten taels of silver?"

The idle man took out an IOU: "I have established a written proof, but you still want to deny it?"

The blacksmith said angrily: "Nonsense, you are blackmailers! Shuanzi, report to the authorities!"

The idle man sneered: "Report to the official? Which official dares to take care of the Zheng family's affairs in Quzhou Prefecture?"

The apprentices had already left the house, but they stopped when they heard this, and turned to look at the blacksmith at a loss.

There are several counties in Quzhou Prefecture, and the real power of the Zheng family lies in Xi'an County, which is governed by the prefecture, and Longyou County which is next to it.

Fan came out of the back room suddenly, and said with a cold face: "What is coming at me, don't make things difficult for my husband!"

"close the door!"

The idlers kicked the apprentice's feet and quickly installed the door of the iron shop.

The idle man in the lead looked at Fan and suddenly coveted him.This woman was born delicate and beautiful, remarried to a 50-year-old widower blacksmith, it is really a flower stuck in cow dung.

"Little lady, how about going to live in the city with me?" The idler said with a chuckle, "You are so delicate, you spend all day in an iron shop in a small town in the countryside, and you will be smoked by the fire in a few years." She has become a yellow-faced woman."