Chapter 197: Yangping's Sinking Corpse

Not only Zhao Yu is interested, but there are already people in the prefectures and counties near Yangping who have come to observe and learn. Many of them came in person from the county and the state. For this purpose, special arrangements were made for reception. Although those who read the books of the sages do not look down on people who smell copper, it is impossible to do without copper smell. It is a man's dream to be promoted and get rich. Literally, you can only get rich after you get promoted. Business has business, and officials have official ways. If the official class is not rich, why should the common people be rich? Most of these people who came to visit were the same as Ouyang, living a half-official and half-business life through shareholding. Although some abuse of power for personal gain is not uncommon, there are far fewer cases of corruption.

Yangping has actually been relatively busy recently, and the Qinghe waterway is very congested, mainly to support the Western Xia war. The raw materials of military rations and cotton wool enter the field and the finished products leave the factory, so the main waterway transportation lines are very busy. Since Gan Xin was dragged onto the thief ship by Ouyang because of his unsuccessful martyrdom, he has been in the spirit of spring silkworms until the end of his life, and under Ouyang's guiding ideology, he has conscientiously managed Yangping. His name may not be known to the people, but as far as Yangping and nearby prefectures and counties are concerned, his name is still very big.

Gan Xin had just finished a tiring day, and he originally wanted to go to the Jinzun Hotel to have dinner with his concubine, and then go home to spend the night with his wife, but he didn't think that Ouchi's official document completely disrupted this plan.

The emperor wants to come to Yangping, but ...... Ouyang is not here. Where did Ouyang go? Ouyang was dragged by Song Huizong to Taihu Lake to taste high-grade Tianhua Valley tea, and went to eat Taihu Lake Sanbai. Gan Xin is crazy, how to reply to this official document? Say Ouyang is not here, let the emperor come back in a month? I couldn't help cursing the emperor in my heart, just stay in Tokyo if you have nothing to do, what are you doing in Yangping?

But Ouyang has been gone for two days, and he definitely can't catch up. Besides, it's hard to say how Song Huizong played, where did he go to turn around, and he couldn't find anyone at all. Gan Xin thought for a while with a sad face, and finally could only reply truthfully: Ouyang Feng drove the emperor's side. As soon as Huizong of the Song Dynasty pushed it, the big thing became a small thing. Ouchi's palindrome said that it doesn't matter, the emperor just wants to see Baiyun District. But Gan Xin didn't expect that this small thing would become a big thing.

Ten days later, the royal driver arrived in Yangping, and Gan Xin led a group of squires and famous people to meet him at the east gate. Look at the emperor's pomp this time, the three hundred forbidden troops opened the way, the three hundred forbidden troops guarded, and the three hundred forbidden troops were broken. Cai Jing and other first- and second-grade civil officials followed a dozen or so. There were many officials from the three provinces and six ministries. Zhao Yu didn't plan to reform, but improving work efficiency is not a reform, this time he brought so many people to see Yangping Baiyun District, and he also planned to start entangling the office system in the capital and move them to the vicinity of the palace. When the Northwest War was in full swing, it took a lot of time to pass on the child, which made Zhao Yu, who was a little anxious, unbearable.

Zhao Yu didn't get off Luan, and the ninth father-in-law was responsible for communicating with Gan Xin. After saying a few words, the official opened the way in front of him and led Luan Jia to Ouyang's renovated residence. Originally, he used Master Su's mansion to settle down, but Zhao Yu lived in the county government, and he heard that Ouyang's house was decorated in a good style, so he chose Ou's house.

As soon as the royal car approached North Street, an old woman rushed out of the crowd, knelt in the middle of the road, and shouted with a piece of paper in her hand: "Wronged! ”

Sue the royal court? Everyone was shocked. Willing to make a sudden mistake in confidence, he only received an official document stating the emperor's arrival time before yesterday, although he organized people to repair the European house in the past two days, but the news was only released to the officials last night, why did this old woman be prepared and ran out to sue the emperor?

In addition, the judgments of the Yangping government are all clear, and each criminal case is tried by at least four squires, and it is also transferred to the state for retrial, and it must also go through the yamen of the criminal department. If it's not a criminal case, this stop is looking for death. Ganxin whispered, "Do you know who this person is?" ”

Wang Wu shook his head lightly: "I don't know, it's definitely not an old resident of Yangping." ”

"I'll check the details of this person later. Especially Xiangcun. Zhan Ming whispered after explaining: "It's a bit of a conspiracy." ”

Gan Xin nodded: "Smelled." I guess this time someone calculated. ”

The two of them knew about the troubles of the prison. Unlike in modern times, who reports now bears the evidence, and at that time the suspect was the one who gave the evidence. For example, if there is evidence that A killed B, A will be guilty if A cannot provide proof of innocence or refute the evidence.

The ninth father-in-law shouted: "Collect the paper and take people down to rest for a while." ”

"Yes!" The two guards put the paper away, stepped forward to help the old woman, and let her aside. Luan drove on.

After a short rest, Zhao Yu met with the old woman with more than a dozen ministers. The paper was also placed in front of Zhao Yu's desk. The old woman cried at the bottom of the hall and said: "The surname of the husband's family is Zhang, and he is from Kaixian County, Junzhou. Uchiko is a good gambler, not only gambling all the family property, but also accompanying her life. The woman had to bring her daughter to Yangping to beg for a living. Ten days ago, I heard that Oufu was recruiting maids, and I heard that Ou Daren loved the people like sons, so he asked his daughter to come to Oufu to take the exam. But how did I know that my daughter had not been heard from for ten days. So he came to Oufu to look for someone. But I didn't think about it, but I was blasted out by Lord Ou's family. I heard from the Oufu miscellaneous that he had not seen my daughter. The women could only sue the yamen, but when the pleadings were handed over, there was no news. In desperation, the woman had to stop the sedan chair to file a complaint. ”

Zhao Yu asked, "Do you know who I am?" ”

"I don't know, but last night I heard that a noble person came today, and the women can only give it a try."

Shangshu of the Criminal Department asked: "Do you know that if you skip the level and sue the official, if you are falsely accused, you will be added to the third degree, if it is not falsely accused, you will also have to serve as the frontier of the army after ten years?" ”

"The father of the folk woman is to open the county to catch fast, and if the folk woman has other methods, she will definitely not dare. Even if the army is on the frontier, the women are willing. "In ancient times, it was not in favor of skipping the level to file a lawsuit, mainly because the officials above did not understand the actual situation, and misjudged the suspected officials.

Zhao Yu nodded and said, "Get aside and pass on Ou Ping." ”

The Ninth Gonggong said in Zhao Yu's ear: "Your Majesty, there may be someone who wants to borrow a knife to kill someone." ”

"How?"

"We don't dare to say anything else, but the woman said that she didn't know who His Majesty was, which is pure nonsense."

Zhao Yu said: "It's true or false." Even if it is a false accusation, a woman would not dare to have such courage. ”

"Opin brought."

Ou Ping knelt down and said, "Grass people Ou Ping has seen Your Majesty. ”

"Yes!" Zhao Yu nodded and looked at the old woman, and sure enough, as the ninth princess said, listening to His Majesty's words, although there was a look of surprise on his face, the shock was obviously not enough. Zhao Yu asked, "Ou Ping, do you recognize this old woman?" ”

Ouyang looked at the old woman for a while and said, "It seems that it is the person who came to Oufu a few days ago." ”

“***？”

"Yes. A few days ago, the old woman took a rope and said that Oufu would not hand over her daughter, and that she would hang a beam here. The grass people had never seen this old woman or her daughter, and besides, the European government had not hired a maid recently, so they thought that she was coming to make trouble, so they bombed out. ”

The old woman hurriedly said: "Nonsense, I still have the contract document signed by Ouyang here." ”

"Bring it in." After the contract was sent, Zhao Yu looked at it, and it was written on the contract that Zhang Jin'er was hired as the maid of the Ou family for a period of three years. There is also Ouyang's signature and private seal below. Zhao Yu said: "The book of the criminal department." ”

"Yes!" Shangshu of the Criminal Department took the contract and read it carefully, and after a while, he said, "I am sure that this text and signature are not the same person." The minister saw Lord Ou's signature, although there was no comparison, but at first glance there was still eighty percent of the image. The paper is not spliced, and the writing is smooth, and it is done in one go. ”

"Just got the message." Zhan Ming, who was listening to the trial in the hall, said to Gan Xin: "There is a servant in the yamen who is missing. ”

Gan Xin nodded and asked, "Did you send someone to find your lord?" ”

"Well, ten officials are already on the way."

Zhao Yu asked, "Ou Ping, do you know about this contract?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the grass people don't know where the contract came from. But when the lady is there, the grass people are in charge. The grass people have never seen anyone enlisted as a handmaiden. ”

"Report!" An internal guard appeared in the hall: "Your Majesty, when the lowly rank and others were fortifying, a female corpse was found in the pond. ”

"What?" Ou Ping and the others broke out in a cold sweat.

The body was tied to a boulder and sunk into the pond. When the internal guard was surveying, he found that there was something faint in the pool, so he took a hook gun and fished it out, without thinking about pulling an arm. After going down and fishing it up, I found that it was a girl about fifteen years old and five feet two inches tall, although the body was swollen, but it could be seen that she had a slender figure and good facial features. After Zhan Ming inspected the corpse, he reported: "The time of death was about half a month, and he had died before the corpse was sunk." He was struck to death by a hard object in the back of his head. Before Death...... was tied up and humiliated, and there were incense burns in many parts of his body, and he was obviously *** for a long time. ”

Zhao Yu nodded when he heard the report, obviously satisfied with Zhanming's fairness, and then asked: "Zhanming, you have been a hunter for many years, and you have been the head of the local hunt in Yangping for many years, what do you think?" ”

Zhan Ming hugged his fists and said: "Back to Your Majesty, from the public point of view, this matter needs to be carefully investigated after the adults come back." Privately, Zhan Ming believes that someone has framed this matter. According to the news received by the lowly office, a servant in the yamen suddenly disappeared last night, and the adult left more than ten days ago, so the lowly official thought. Someone must have framed your lord. ”

Framed? Zhao Yu also felt that it was a frame-up frame. From *** years ago to now, she thinks that Ouyang will never do such a thing. But the facts pointed all the unfavorable evidence to Ouyang. Although there are officials guarding Ou Ping's house to prove Ou Ping's words, it only means that Ou Ping bombarded the family and left, not that Zhang Jin'er did not enter Ou Mansion. According to the old woman's statement, they made a contract at the side door that day, and Ou Ping took the contract back to her, and took Zhang Jin'er inside, and Zhang Jin'er also said that he would visit her in a few days.

According to the current evidence, it can be speculated that Ouyang did hire a maid at that time, and then he kept the contract very formally. After Zhang Jin'er entered the European Mansion, Ouyang coveted his beauty, and was rejected and resisted. Ouyang was ashamed and angry, tied up Zhang Jin'er and humiliated him, and finally killed the sunken body pond. Afterwards, he traveled with Song Huizong, so that the old woman could not find anyone. But after thinking about it, I didn't expect that the emperor's royal car arrived, so that the old woman had someone to complain.

In the next few days, evidence against Ouyang kept coming. The body of the missing official Yan Qi was found in the lower reaches of the Qing River. The old woman pointed out that this person was the official on duty in the European Mansion at that time, and he had seen the contract handover process, and he had a few words with the old woman at that time. And the three knives in Yan Qi's body are all vital points, the knife edge is made of official knives, and the martial arts of the person who started it are extraordinary. Zhan Ming and Ou Ping were imprisoned on the same day.

On the day Zhan Ming was imprisoned, the internal guard privately reported: "Your Majesty, I have examined Yan Qi's body in a humble position, I am afraid it was not done by Lord Zhan." ”

Zhao Yu asked, "How can you see it?" ”

"Your Majesty, people who practice martial arts know the saying, the knife of the year, the moon stick, the gun of a lifetime. According to the understanding of the lowly office, although the Zhan people use knives, they mostly use swords, guns and other swords. In the past two days, he also returned to Beijing to ask the county lord of Xiaoqing about the fight between Lord Zhan, and the lord of Xiaoqing said that if Lord Zhan wants to kill people, he can shock people to death empty-handed. And unless it is intentional, Zhan-sama will not use the slash. Looking at the injuries of the corpse, the murderer's brute force is better than the technical attack, and the attack is fierce. From a humble point of view, there are seven points like people in the army who do it. The sword used in the army has only a few moves, but it is practical and fierce. However, it cannot be ruled out that it is a trick to show the eyes of the adults and deliberately leave flaws. ”

Zhao Yu nodded: "You mean that this killing method doesn't seem to be done by Zhanming, but if Zhanming did it deliberately, it can be done, right?" ”

The inner guard nodded: "Yes!" ”

"I also believe Zhan Ming and Ouyang, but the evidence is in front of me, and the only person who knows is still killed, this case ...... I'm afraid it's not easy. Zhao Yu looked at the ninth father-in-law: "You are old and sophisticated, but you should tell me, if it is planted, who will do it?" ”

The ninth father-in-law replied: "According to the small one, Lord Ou is the head of the two chambers of commerce, and he writes maritime regulations, and the other party is an official. I'm afraid I've offended people, and Lord Ou doesn't know. It is possible to block the road to wealth and the road to officials. To magnify it, Ouyang suffered, and the happiest were the Liaojin Xixia people. I'm sure they all know that Lord Ou has gunpowder and other things. If Lord Ou asks for guilt, these things will inevitably be handed over to the imperial court. If the court uses it, the secrets are easy to leak, and the court does not use it. Moreover, Ouyang's questioning will also cause chaos in the shopping mall, and it will seriously hurt people's livelihood. Therefore, regardless of whether this matter was done by Lord Ou or not, Your Majesty will probably protect Lord Ou for the sake of the future. If Ouyang is done, it is tantamount to self-destruction of the Great Wall. ”

Zhao Yu shook his head: "Don't look at those ministers, they didn't speak, but they knew it." If I lose my selfishness, this matter will not end. That's why I knew there was something wrong with the old woman, but I didn't ask about the punishment. I have all bent into a move, so don't the officials below follow suit? Besides, you underestimate Ouyang too much, even if he really does it, he must have prepared a follow-up move. What about the Royal? ”

"Back to Your Majesty!" One of the guards said: "The royal newspaper is being printed, and it will be published tomorrow." According to the lowly position, Liu Huilan is ready to release the report according to the facts. And said that he would serialize it and pay attention to the dynamics of the matter. ”

"Well done." Zhao Yu nodded: "If Ouyang is really innocent, if this matter is kept secret, even if he is innocent in the future, he will not convince everyone, and the people will be suspicious." If Ouyang is really such a thief, then at least he will keep the reputation of the Royal Newspaper. Women don't let their eyebrows be bearded, they have this courage, but it's a pity that Liu Huilan has a daughter. ”

According to the current situation, although the evidence is unfavorable to Ouyang, everyone from the emperor to the ministers is biased towards the fact that Ouyang was framed. A well-known magistrate from the Gyeonggi Criminal Division has arrived in Yangpyeong to examine the two bodies. On the one hand, there is the imperial trial, and on the other hand, the protagonist is the influential figure Ouyang, and the case is bloody, and this matter has surpassed the Western Xia War and has become the first hot topic among the people. And the protagonist of the topic has not appeared for a long time.

And at this time, something unexpected happened, and the woman who complained died. The complainant woman was placed in a suburban post station, protected by four internal guards, but even so, in the early morning, found her violently dead in bed. When Zhao Yu heard this, he was furious and sent the four internal guards to prison to the university for questioning. There is no evidence for this death, which undoubtedly makes this case worse. Ouyang has no possibility of clearing suspicion.

The protagonist Ouyang was originally on the waterway, and was chased by a fast horse, and after the ship docked, the official briefly said this, and Ouyang immediately set off back to Yangping. Song Huizong was also interested when he heard this, and said that he would come later.

The officials reported first, and Ouyang and Zhang San and Li Si bought horses nearby and returned to Yangping. Out of Gwangju and into Luzhou, there is a small town. When the three of them saw that it was getting late, they stopped their horses and stayed at the only inn in the town.

That night, the three of them analyzed the known facts of the case. Zhang San just entered the yamen, followed Zhanming to learn martial arts and detectives, and had a little experience in prison, so he first said his opinion: "No matter day or night, there are at least two officials on duty in the Oufu. The back door is clogged, and the front door and side door are the only roads. If you want to bring more than 80 catties of corpses over the wall, it is difficult, and it is easy to be found when it is quiet at night. Therefore, it is possible that Zhang Jiner's corpse was planted when the Oufu was repaired and organized, and someone carried it in and sank the corpse in the water. ”

Li Si nodded: "Yan Qi usually keeps to himself, although he rarely talks to others, but he is not sloppy about official business. He was recruited in the second batch, and his salary was relatively generous. Adults, including us, have little to guard against such people. If he enters while he is repairing, the craftsmen and overseers will not pay attention to him at all. Another point is the contract. said that only Yan Qi was present that day, and it was indeed Yan Qi and Wang Wu who were on duty that day, although Wang Wu denied it, but he didn't know that it didn't mean that there was no such thing. And since adults trust an old man like Yan Qi more, coupled with the establishment of the Baiyun District Commercial Center, the adults have to sign a large number of documents every few days. The adult is leaving again, and some things are arranged, it may be that Yan Qi brought a contract for the adult to sign, or let the adult sign the blank paper directly. ”

"No." Ouyang said: "Although there are many documents, I will also browse what is going on a little, I will not be so careless." Before leaving, Yan Qi did ask me to sign four documents. I want to think about it...... The first is the topic of the monthly general meeting of shareholders of the Yangping Chamber of Commerce, which I signed to agree. The second was that a government official was suspected of selling stolen goods and allowed a search of his home. The third is the monthly expenditure of Xiangcun nursing. The fourth piece is...... I think about it, the fourth case is a dispute over a piece of land between two villages in Umeda Township, and the signing authorization for the head of the township to contact the heads of the two families to negotiate a settlement. ”

Zhang San asked: "Adults must be just these four things?" ”

"Of course, it's more troublesome to use a private seal. Of course I do. "For the internal affairs of Yangping County, Ouyang's private seal is accurate, and the official seals are handed over to Gan Xin for use in the new yamen, and Ouyang basically doesn't use it.

Li Si nodded: "Then there is a possibility, the signature and private seal are forged." ”

Ouyang shook his head: "I don't think so, if you want to arrange such a bureau, it is impossible to use fake signatures." "In ancient times, it was more difficult to forge signatures than in modern times, and the color and concentration of ink were different for everyone. Not to mention the thickness of the brush and the verve of the signature.

As soon as he said this, Zhang San and Li Si suddenly touched the handle of the knife, and when Ouyang heard it, there was a sound of footsteps approaching. However, the person who came was very gentle, and actually knocked on the door a few times: "Lord Ou, can you open the door and see." ”

"Open the door!" Ouyang commanded.