Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

"Hey, hey, hey--then let's continue."

Zhu Gaochi took a sip of water to moisten his throat and continued speaking.

Among the tasks assigned by the yamen this time, there is a task called "Jiehu", which is to transport the grain handed in by the common people as taxes to the designated place.

This job required about sixty households, and on average each person had to transport about 106 shi of grain to the yamen.

Moreover, this job is considered corvée labor, with no pay and no salary.

Who transports more and who transports less, which route is easy and which route is difficult, it is all purely arranged by these two people.

Those who know can spend money to avoid disaster, and those who don’t can only work hard.

Among these sixty-two people, five did not understand, and these five people encountered the most difficulties in escorting.

Not receiving the money from these five people, Lai Shuli and Baihuli were not very satisfied.

But this is normal. There are always people who are not worldly-wise when a job is assigned.

When the relief workers brought the grain back and finally stored it in the warehouse, the government would always record a smaller amount according to its custom, and then give a portion to each department as a benefit for the government.

But this time, I don’t know what went wrong.

In the end, when they settled the accounts, they found that there was more than 48 stone of grain missing.

This amount is really a bit too much. No matter how much loss there is, it shouldn't be so much.

At that time, an imperial censor happened to pass by. When he learned about this matter, he decided to investigate.

Since there was no county magistrate, the magistrate of Yongcheng was brought over.

After the real investigation began, it was found that the people in the yamen were not wrong. The magistrate of Yongcheng was also a new one, and the petty officials in Yongcheng were not so ferocious in exploiting people.

Under the guidance of others, the magistrate thought that the problem lies with this group of households, and that they must have stolen grain while transporting it.

Since he was seconded here to do the job, it would be better for him to have less things to do than more.

As long as they double the food supply, the matter will be settled.

As for which households stole the food, the government needs to investigate and ask them to come and replenish the food.

While the magistrate was waiting for the government to look for someone.

Lai Shuli and Baihuli found in advance the five people who did not know how to behave themselves among the sixty-two Jiehu.

A combination of threats and inducements, both soft and hard tactics.

What ordinary people fear most is entering government service.

Unsurprisingly, four of them chose to pay money to save their lives and avoid disaster.

The only one left was Du Shan, who refused to give in to any persuasion.

It's not that people don't understand, but they know the dealings of these two petty officials and are unwilling to spend money to avoid disaster.

Even Zhu Gaochi called the subsequent developments a miracle.

After Lai Shuli received the life-saving money from the four people, he fabricated a non-existent household and then reported Du Shan and this non-existent household to the county magistrate.

It was said that the 48 stone of grain was withheld by these two people.

Now this fabricated household has handed over the grain, but Du Shan refuses to do so. What should he do with it?

The magistrate felt that he had been magnanimous and lenient.

It's just a troublemaker like him that can be so difficult to deal with.

So the magistrate directly issued an arrest warrant.

The constables from the yamen quickly arrested Du Shan and put him in jail, sentencing him to two years in prison and five years of exile.

But, this Du Shan is indeed a tough nut to crack.

He had done nothing wrong, but was thrown into prison. He also faced the possibility of being exiled to the bitter cold of Liaodong and dying in a foreign land.

Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well fight to the death.

Du Shan then asked someone to file a complaint and sued everyone in the yamen.

The main charges were corruption, abuse of power, embezzlement and bribery. In short, there were almost no good people in the entire government office.

When the complaint was sent to the next higher government office, there were only two clerks in the office because it was a holiday.

They were all minor clerks, and the minor clerks from other government offices were sued.

No one knows whether they have any sympathy for each other.

Anyway, this petition was not immediately submitted to the prefect the next day.

No matter what kind of yamen it is, the person at the highest level can only see what the people below want him to see.

And because this lawsuit sued everyone, including the officials.

According to Ming Dynasty law, the higher authorities had to summon all the defendants for questioning one by one.

It was also in accordance with the rules for the clerk not to hand in the complaint before the person was summoned.

One of the two clerks, whose surname was Xu, went through the most basic procedures at the government office the next day, and then rushed to the small county town with a ticket, which was a summons.

After entering the city gate, Xu Xiaoli was stopped by the men under Lai Shuli and Baihuli before he even reached the yamen.

He took her directly to the land of pleasure to eat, drink and have fun. Xu Xiaoli was also a knowledgeable person and did not resist at all.

This matter happened in the government office and everyone knows about it.

As long as Xu Xiaoli didn't go to the yamen, the certificate had not been delivered and the government office had not formally filed a case, leaving Lai Shuli and Baihuli with considerable room for maneuver.

After Lai Shuli and Baihuli had dealt with Xu Xiaoli, they looked at the ticket privately.

The entire yamen was summoned, but only one person was missed.

This person is a maverick constable named Wu in the yamen. He never goes along with them and never gets involved in any of their affairs.

So, this matter was brought to the government office because of an internal spy.

At this time, they had to use their biggest trump card, the chief clerk.

The chief clerk found a random excuse and beat the constable Wu with twenty sticks and put him in jail.

However, catching the traitor only resolved the internal conflict.

Since Xu Xiaoli has not returned with the ticket yet, the government office will definitely send someone to deliver it again.

In order to buy time to find a solution, the petty officials mobilized the network of relationships left over from generations of people working in this industry, and asked people to go to the government office to lobby the people who issued the tickets to issue the second ticket a little later.

The invoice issuer refused.

Because the prefect Jiang at that time was a man who hated evil and corrupt officials the most.

Then, the second person who delivered the ticket came soon.

The chief clerk took the ticket and promised the visitor that he would send people to arrest the defendant and his accomplices.

While they were waiting, a minor official suddenly came to report that the plaintiff Du Shan had changed his confession and would not sue anymore.

The second person who delivered the ticket had to stay in the county town.

Waiting for the procedure of withdrawing the lawsuit. In order to ensure the fairness of the case, the Ming Dynasty Law also has corresponding procedures for withdrawing the lawsuit, which cannot be completed in a day or two.

The two people sent by the government office to deliver the tickets have not returned to their posts yet, and none of the people who should have been summoned have shown up either. This is of course not acceptable.

So the third person from the government office who delivered the ticket also came to the county town.

After arriving, we understood the situation. Anyway, everyone had their own reasons. Xu Xiaoli didn't go back because he was waiting for his arrest, and then he was waiting for the lawsuit to be withdrawn. The second one was waiting for the lawsuit to be withdrawn. There were normal reasons why everyone couldn't go back.

Moreover, it is a good thing that the plaintiff finally withdrew the lawsuit.

The third person who delivered the ticket went back to report.

A storm disappeared into thin air.

"That's the end of it."

When Zhu Gaochi said this for the last time, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

“F—No way!!!”

"I pulled my pants down, and you just said one word to me and that's it?"

Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui both jumped up.