"This is sheer nonsense! County Magistrate Gao ordered you to bully his family, and you did the same? Do you think I'm a fool who can be easily fooled?
Come, take these people who defy the court and this official and give them twenty lashes of the cane. We will sentence them later." County Magistrate Liang was truly infuriated by the shamelessness of these five people. He had been trying cases for so many years and had seen all kinds of criminals, but he had never seen such despicable and shameless people.
"I obey your command." Several constables came out and took the five constables on the ground to be beaten with boards.
The constables were selected by An Er. They were all villagers from nearby. These villagers had all been bullied to some extent and hated County Magistrate Gao and the previous constables. Now that they were in his hands, he would definitely treat them well.
"Sir, please spare our lives! We know we are wrong!" the five constables begged for mercy.
Who is Magistrate Feng? Will he pay any attention to them? Definitely not. These beasts have committed unforgivable acts, and they still expect me to let them go. It's a pipe dream—a wishful thinking.
The people knew that the new Magistrate Liang was really going to try Magistrate Gao, so those who had been wronged came out to appeal for justice, but Magistrate Liang asked them to speak one by one.
After they finished telling their grievances, almost all the officials in Anqiu County were spared, both big and small officials. This incident further shocked the three views of County Magistrate Liang. He could never have imagined that a county government was rotten from the root. Only a few constables were not involved and were re-employed by King Jin. The others had all oppressed the people, forcibly abducted women, and even raped married women. They also suppressed some shops, forcibly collected so-called "protection fees", and occupied some shops without any backing.
The lawyer recorded the grievances of the people one by one, sorted them out, and handed them over to the county magistrate.
This legal advisor was a retainer of the magistrate of Liang County. He had always been protecting him closely and handling some important matters. This time he was brought here and promoted to legal advisor.
This time, the emperor arranged for him to come to Anqiu County, and he brought three people with him to take up the post, namely the county magistrate, the chief clerk and the registrar.
They were all his capable subordinates in the Dali Temple and had been approved by the emperor.
Magistrate Liang took the testimony and pronounced the verdict on the spot.
"Gao Zhenhai, during his time in office, abused his power, embezzled the royal law, oppressed the people, raped women, and displayed his corrupt character. I sentence Gao Zhenhai to immediate execution. Three days later, his head will be publicly displayed in the market. His property will be raided, the silver seized will be confiscated, and his family will be exiled three thousand miles away.
Xu Qingsong and his companions, who were corrupt and lawless, oppressed the people, and raped women, are sentenced to immediate death. Three days later, they and Gao Zhenhai will be beheaded in the market at noon. Their homes will be raided, the proceeds confiscated, and their families exiled three thousand miles. This is to be carried out immediately. County Magistrate Liang pronounced the sentence on Gao Zhenhai and his companions: from Magistrate Gao down to the constables and yamen runners, all will be beheaded, their homes confiscated, and exiled.
"Good judgment, County Magistrate Liang is wise!" the people of Anqiu County shouted.
Niu Junkun and the victims shed tears, and their loved ones could finally rest in peace.
"Everyone, be quiet! I have something to say. The families of the victims, please come to the yamen tomorrow. I will compensate you with one hundred taels of silver from the money I collected from the confiscation of property. This will be considered as their apology." As soon as County Magistrate Liang finished speaking, the cheers of the people that had just stopped rang out again, louder than before.
After hearing An Er's words, Shangguan Feiyun developed a favorable impression of County Magistrate Liang. He knew that this man was a royalist and someone his father could trust.
He used to be a Chief Justice of the Dali Temple and had tried many cases. He was well-known in the capital for his hatred of evil and his inability to be persuaded by anyone.
Li Yun and his family were also very angry at Gao Zhenhai and others. With such officials, one can imagine what kind of life the people were living.
Far away in Qingzhou, the government office was also in chaos. The emperor's men arrived in Qingzhou and took up residence there. They had Feng Zhifu and other officials detained and imprisoned. Then, he ordered his attendants to investigate those officials.
After two days of open and secret investigations, they caught a lot of the Prime Minister's associates and learned a lot of evidence about him from them. Then they secretly sent the evidence and the people back to Beijing.
Magistrate Feng did not find any major problems, so he was dismissed from his post, his property was confiscated, and he was exiled three thousand miles away as the imperial edict said.
Officials involved were dismissed from their posts and investigated. In serious cases, their property was confiscated and they were exiled. In minor cases, their property was confiscated, their positions were removed, and they would never be employed again by the court.
By the time the people of Qingzhou Prefecture found out, the government office had already been completely destroyed, and Magistrate Feng and his family had been taken into exile.
In Anqiu County, on the day of execution, people flocked to the vegetable market to watch the beheading.
County Magistrate Liang put the constable, County Magistrate Gao and others into a prison van and paraded them through the streets for public display.
When the people saw Magistrate Gao and others in the prison car, they took out rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves and threw them at them. The people in the prison car dared not say anything.
When they arrived at the beheading place, they were escorted down. When the time came, County Magistrate Liang waved his hand and threw out the token, and Huizishou swung his sword and chopped at the prisoners.
People with children covered their eyes to prevent them from seeing the bloody scene.
The people looked at the head falling to the ground and spat to express their relief.
The families of the victims also arrived at the scene. When they saw the heads fall to the ground, they all burst into tears. Their revenge was finally avenged, and their loved ones could die in peace.
The matter in Anqiu County has been dealt with, and County Magistrate Liang has begun to visit the villages to inspect the drought situation.
In Qingshan Village, Qingshan County, Li Yun has already started recruiting people to harvest vegetables. She has even picked cucumbers and taken them home to dry. Locusts have appeared in some places, and it is only a matter of time before locusts will come to Qingshan County, so she harvested the vegetables in advance.
She taught people how to pickle cucumbers and zucchini, and she helped harvest the vegetables, which she sold in the fruit and vegetable store. She secretly put some of them into the space to keep them fresh.
During this period, she had people build a greenhouse in the sweet potato field, tomato field and pepper field to prevent locusts from coming and eating the crops. There was no need to be afraid of ducks in the rice fields, as ducks were the natural enemies of locusts.
The more you fear something, the more likely it will come to you.
The villagers working in the fields saw that the sky suddenly darkened and thought it was going to rain. They were happy when they heard a buzzing sound coming from far away, followed by a group of locusts flying over.
"The locusts are coming, everyone run!" the villagers of Qingshan Village shouted.
Li Yun and the secret guard heard the cry and ran out to see what was happening. Wow, there was a huge group of locusts, which made them shudder.
Although Li Yun was prepared, he was still frightened by the number of locusts.
"Hurry, take torches and go to the sweet potato fields, peanut fields, pepper fields and tomato fields. Don't let the locusts eat them." Li Yun ordered the servants, secret guards, and escort team in the house.
When the news of locusts appearing in Qingzhou spread, Li Yun decisively ordered the shops to be closed, leaving behind secret guards and bodyguards, and everyone else returned to Qingshan Village.
She also prepared a lot of torches and bought flamethrowers from her previous life on Haoduoduo. She only gave these to An Yi, An Er, An Wu and Shangguan Feiyun, and asked them to protect the sweet potato fields, peanut fields, tomato fields and pepper fields.
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