The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The days of trial are boring. The victim is constantly called to the court to cry and complain, and then the criminals he accuses are mentioned, and the witnesses and material evidence are put out one by one.

At first, Wei Guangde watched with great interest, learning how to interrogate a case, but soon he discovered that both He Qian and Bai Qichang were conducting the interrogation process very perfunctorily, and basically did not consider the criminal's defense.

But it's normal. As far as He Qian said, these are all people who must die. It doesn't matter whether he has committed any crimes or not.

Even with such a perfunctory approach, it took seven or eight days to review these petitions. This was because Wang Daoxing had begun to no longer accept new petitions.

Many people gradually began to believe that they were really going to be sentenced this time after seeing that the gang of villains who once ran rampant and arrogant in Suzhou were actually imprisoned, so the number of people submitting petitions increased day by day.

Under such circumstances, Wei Guangde and others were summoned together by He Qian, and everyone quickly reached an agreement to continue to let the people of Suzhou file complaints. The New Year case could not be concluded, so Wang Daoxing was asked to block the people's complaints.

For those cases, in the first two days, He Qian came down and explained them to Wei Guangde, which was regarded as introducing Wei Guangde to teach him some skills in trial and judgment. However, as time went by, there were too many cases, and He Qian became tired.

Wei Guangde didn't want to develop in the direction of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs were okay, and the last one was the Ministry of Works. After all, there was money and money.

The trial of scattered cases went directly to the Suzhou riot case.

For these criminals, what needs to be said has been said a long time ago, and everything that needs to be admitted has been admitted. The whole hall is like a child's play. More than 20 prisoners kowtowed in the hall and begged for mercy. They repeatedly begged for life. In this hall, By that time, they had long lost the majestic appearance they had in Suzhou City.

Wei Guangde sat there, watching the performances of these people. They just wanted to save a life. No matter whether they were sentenced to guard the border or released, no one wanted to be beheaded.

It is better to die than to live. They are not warriors who are not afraid of death and face death directly.

However, it was too late to kneel down and beg for mercy now. When they burned the edicts, symbols, flags and other items entrusted by Governor Yingtian, their fate was already sealed.

In a period when imperial power was supreme, these gifts given by the emperor could not be desecrated. Emperor Jiajing might not take them seriously, but officials in the court could not take them seriously.

More than twenty criminals were brought to court one by one, and several days passed.

At this point, the main thing is to confirm the status of the criminal in the entire case, and to identify the mastermind and accomplices.

The evil young man armed with weapons to attack the governor's office was proposed on Tuesday and was also commanded by him. Although he did not have the highest status among the evil young men in the past, in this case he was the out-and-out mastermind.

Not only will he be beheaded, but his family will also be affected, and it is inevitable that his family will be confiscated and distributed.

After everyone had finished their crimes and had just rested for a day, the Suzhou magistrate's hall was raised again, and the verdict was announced. All the evil leaders of Suzhou, headed by Tuesday, were sentenced to beheading, and many of their families were implicated.

In the prison of the Zhejiang Inspectorate in Hangzhou Prefecture, Wei Guangde looked at the man lying on his side through the cell door. He called himself "King Hui" and was known as the "Five Peaks Ship Master". He was once an undisputed presence on the sea, and now he has become a member of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Zhi was imprisoned.

This man is Wang Zhi, but now he no longer has the high-spiritedness he had when he dominated the ocean. At this time, all that appears in front of Wei Guangde's eyes is a bleak figure.

He went from being Hu Zongxian's guest to a prisoner, and has been detained here for almost two years.

From being full of hope at the beginning to giving up completely, he already knew what his ending would be, and he was just waiting for the last moment.

"it's him?"

Wei Guangde looked at the back inside and asked the accompanying officer.

Following Wei Guangde here was a minister from the Zhejiang Procuratorate. The purpose of bringing Wei Guangde here was naturally to see people.

"Yes, Mr. Wei, the person lying inside is Wang Zhi."

A very direct answer. The people in the prison had already heard the conversation outside at this time. Their bodies shook slightly, but they did not turn around.

Wei Guangde did not know Wang Zhi. The so-called prison sentence was actually to confirm that the person in prison and the person who was finally executed were the same person.

Now Wang Zhi's back is turned to Wei Guangde, so that he can't see Wang Zhi's face clearly, which is not good.

"Come in, turn the person over so I can take a look."

Wei Guangde has no intention of being polite to Wang Zhi. No matter what he was like before, he is already a person who has been sentenced to death by the court and will be executed soon. What's more, the Japanese pirates along the coast are indeed inseparable from him. .

When he was in the capital, Wei Guangde considered the overall situation and felt that he should not kill this person, but should recruit his subordinates to destroy other evil-doing Japanese pirate forces. However, since the court had already made a conclusion, he would naturally not say much because of his humble position. What, just execute the order.

But before the jailer opened the cell door, Wang Zhi inside had already turned around. He was not stupid. He couldn't resist in this place. Rather than being forcibly turned over by the jailer, he might as well take the initiative himself.

Of course, he was also curious as to who would come to the prison specifically to see him at this time.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhi couldn't help but feel something in his heart, and a bad premonition emerged.

The prison was very dark. Although it was broad daylight, there was only a small window on the six-foot-high wall, not much light coming in at all.

Fortunately, in order to illuminate Wei Guangde and others, the jailer placed an oil lamp on the wall along the way. The two jailers in front each held a lantern in their hands, so Wang Zhi could see Wei Guangde's appearance clearly at a glance.

Green robe, not high grade.

A new magistrate in Qiantang County?

That's not right, the prison he was taken to was not the prison of Qiantang County Government, but the prison of Zhejiang Procuratorate.

While Wang Zhi was still thinking wildly, the jailer opened the iron chain on the cell door. With the sound of the iron chain "clattering", the cell door was opened.

A jailer carrying a lantern and a sturdy jailer walked into the cell.

The jailer carrying the lantern was to illuminate Wang Zhi so that Wei Guangde and others could see Wang Zhi's face clearly outside the cell, so that they could confirm the signature during torture.

These will be submitted to the Ministry of Punishment for files afterward.

He did not look as ferocious as expected from a Japanese pirate leader. Wang Zhi looked very thin and his hair was shaggy. After all, who in prison would have the energy to take care of it.

The skin looks a little sallow, like a person who travels to the sea all year round. This is similar to the way Wei Guangde first saw Yu Dayou.

Wei Guangde was not sure whether it was because of the lantern or because Wang Zhi was always like this. After all, although he was a big pirate, he had been in prison for more than a year without seeing the light of day. Wei Guangde initially thought that he should be very white now. .

Wei Guangde just stood outside the cell door and took a closer look. He had no intention of going in and took a closer look. Instead, he turned around and ordered: "Go in and take a closer look."

After finishing speaking, Wei Guangde stood to one side and made way for the place in front of the cell door. Two officials wearing green robes like him and two captains walked into the cell one after another. They looked at Wang Zhi's appearance carefully, and then looked at him in another room. Under the illumination of a jailer's lantern, he recorded something in a booklet.

Wang should have guessed their origins by this time. It seems that the court finally chose not to let him go.

"well"

A long sigh came from the cell. Wei Guangde turned his head and looked over, only to see that Wang Zhi had closed his eyes at this time, and there were tears in the corners of his eyes under the light.

The people in the cell walked out of the narrow cell door one by one, and their first errand when they came to Hangzhou was completed.

"Crash."

The sound of the iron chain sounded again, and the iron lock was locked.

"Now that you know, what else do you have to say?"

Wei Guangde heard Wang Zhi sighing and asked casually.

In ancient times, prisoners who were about to be executed would still receive certain preferential treatment. The most common one was to ask the prisoner to order a table of reasonably sumptuous food and drinks. In addition, if he had any last words that were not excessive, or if he wanted to see his relatives, this would still be done. , without rudely refusing.

At this moment, Wei Guangde became curious as to whether this pirate leader, who was so famous on the sea, had any last words or unfulfilled wishes at this time.

To be honest, Wei Guangde is still very interested in Wang Zhi, but it is not because of his own value, but because Wang Zhi has been a maritime businessman for many years and has also done pirate work. He must be rich, and he does not know how much money he will have after his death. Will they all fall into the hands of his little chiefs or somewhere else?

Wei Guangde was a little jealous of Wang Zhi's family background, but he knew very well that he probably couldn't get these things, so he just had nothing to think about.

The businesses that Wang Zhi did must have accumulated a huge amount of wealth. Part of it would be used to support the tens of thousands of pirates under his command, but more of it must have been shared privately between him and other leaders.

Having money in their hands does not mean that they are all in Ming Dynasty.

As far as Wei Guangde knew, in the 32nd year of Jiajing, Wang Zhi's family in Daming was locked up and imprisoned by the local officials. It was not until Hu Zongxian took the people to Hangzhou that they were released from prison.

This may be one of the reasons why Wang Zhi chose to believe in Hu Zongxian.

Hu Zongxian's family received preferential treatment in the hands, but Wang Zhi could not transport the money he received back home. Most of the wealth was stored in the Japanese country.

During more than a year in prison, this wealth must have been divided up by his pirate leaders and Japanese daimyo.

Perhaps, before Wang Zhi died, they would say that they were keeping it temporarily for the big leader for safety, and then returned it to Zhao intact after the big leader came out of prison.

However, judging from the activities of various Japanese pirates who burned, killed, and looted in the coastal states of the Ming Dynasty over the past year or so under the pretext of saving Wang Zhi, we can see how serious they were about saving Wang Zhi, and their motives were very questionable.

Perhaps, just as Emperor Jiajing judged, after Wang Zhi was arrested and imprisoned, his power fell into pieces. The forces that were truly loyal to him suffered heavy losses in the siege of Yu Dayou in Cengang, Zhoushan. He was no longer able to continue to control the sea. other Japanese pirate forces.

Wang Zhi is no longer useful.

Wei Guangde thought a lot at that moment, including coveting Wang Zhi's huge wealth and knowing that useless people would die. He guessed that Wang Zhi must have thought of this too, so it was said that he cooperated almost all the way during the trial, except for being determined not to Admit treason.

From beginning to end, Wang Zhi insisted that he was from the Ming Dynasty.

"hehe."

However, what Wei Guangde was waiting for was only a wry smile from Wang Zhi, "I hate myself, why did I believe the words of Hu Zongxian, a white-eyed wolf, and the pardon edict, haha."

"What pardon edict?"

Wei Guangde frowned slightly. When he checked Wang Zhi's files yesterday, he did not see any record of the pardon edict.

Since it is an edict, it must have come from Xiyuan in the capital, and there could be no other place where it could have been made.

"They are just lies. The purpose is to trick me here. Heng Heng just pitied my children. I don't know how they are doing now and whether they have escaped from the siege of the imperial court."

At this point, Wang Zhi, who had been stubborn until now, burst into tears.

"Are you talking about your adopted sons?"

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, "They are all good. Some fought to the end, and some ran away. They are all dead. You should think more about your family."

Wei Guangde said casually.

"I have nothing to do with them. We haven't seen each other for more than ten years. The worst thing is that they will be assigned to each other. If they had died, they would have died long ago."

Wang Zhi was still chattering there, and Si Qianshi, the Zhejiang inspector on the side, hurriedly whispered to Wei Guangde: "It's humid and unlucky here, sir, let's go out first, if we have anything to say to him."

"Yeah, too."

Wei Guangde rolled his eyes, knowing that it was not appropriate to talk to Wang Zhi too much at this time, as there were people around him, although he was very interested in the "pardon edict" mentioned by Wang Zhi earlier.

In fact, Wei Guangde probably guessed something. There is a high probability that this "pardon edict" was something created by Hu Zongxian to deceive Wang Zhi, but this matter is not big or small.

To put it mildly, it was just a "trick" and a strategy, and it successfully deceived Wang Zhi's trust.

It's too serious to say that it's a big deal. It's deceiving the king and ignoring the superior.

Even if Hu Zongxian wants to use this strategy, you have to submit a memorial to the capital and report it first.

But no, at least Wei Guangde saw relevant records in the capital, and there were no relevant records in the interrogation questionnaires he saw at the Zhejiang Procuratorate in Hangzhou Prefecture.

Obviously, the file had been tampered with. Wang Zhi would not not talk about it. He just said it but it was not recorded in the record. He didn't bother to mention it again until later.

The "pardon edict" produced by Hu Zongxian was only known to a very small number of people. Because it was done secretly, it was not discovered by Lu Bing's Jin Yiwei.

When Wei Guangde walked out of the Zhejiang Procuratorate's Prison, what he was thinking about was whether he should mention this matter to Lu Bing. There might be people from Jinyiwei among his entourage. They should have secret channels to contact the capital.

As for use, what is the use of the words of a dying person?

Even if Wei Guangde reports the edict, Wang Zhi will still die, but it may implicate Hu Zongxian, but it is also possible that Emperor Jiajing chose to let it go for the sake of the overall situation of suppressing Japanese invaders in Jiangnan.

However, if this matter gets into the hands of Lu Bing, he may not be able to talk to the Yan family, but he can still get Yu Dayou out of prison.

Now no one has mentioned Yu Dayou's case, but no one has said that he should be released, so he has been hung up and detained. The reason is naturally that the Yan family has not let go.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Wei Guangde was thinking about it in his mind, his face uncertain.