Chapter 728 Borrowing a Knife
County Magistrate Tang said with a puzzled expression, "A village has 100 households. How many people can there be in a household? You've lived here for generations, you grew up here, yet you can't even recognize the 100 households. I'm very curious how you got elected village chief."
Cold sweat broke out on Mori Chang's forehead.
County Magistrate Tang slammed the gavel and shouted, "Officials and the people are colluding and shielding each other. Are you targeting me, or are you all planning to become bandits and rebel against the Jin Dynasty?"
Upon hearing this, Lizhang Mo and Lizhang Sun immediately fell to the ground and cried out, "Please forgive us, sir. We have absolutely no intention of rebelling."
Chief Mo turned his head to look at Chief Sun and shouted, "Chief Sun, are you still going to protect our people?"
Village Chief Sun's face instantly turned pale. He felt a sharp gaze falling on him. He couldn't help but grit his teeth secretly, but he didn't dare to show it on his face. He immediately fell to the ground and pleaded, "Please forgive me, sir. I am guilty. The one being punished here is called Wang San, and he is from our village."
County Magistrate Tang said expressionlessly, "But his last name isn't Sun either."
Village Chief Sun was sweating profusely and said with a guilty conscience, "There is a tribe member named Sun Dashu. A few days ago, I happened to hear a piece of news. It said that some time ago, Sun Dashu took some good friends from two or three nearby villages out for a trip and ended up making a lot of money."
He said, "Because this group of young people were idle all day long, I was very happy when I heard the news, thinking they had grown up and found ways to make progress. But then I vaguely heard that the money was obtained in an illegal way. This matter is also known to Chief Mo, because there are several young people among them."
Now it was Mori's turn to grit his teeth.
County Magistrate Tang's gaze fell on Chief Mo.
Chief Moli could only respond with a "yes" and said, "We've only heard vaguely, and there's no actual evidence. We're outsiders after all, and we can't just go to their house and ask them how they make money. If someone doesn't know, they might think we're trying to steal their livelihood."
"Why are the officials I sent to investigate them always being given a perfunctory response?"
Lizhang Mo and Lizhang Sun complained together, "Sir, we are not being perfunctory. The portraits we brought were simply blurry. Perhaps it's because we are old and our eyesight is blurry, so we simply can't recognize the people in the paintings."
County Magistrate Tang sneered.
Doesn’t he know whether the portrait is blurry or not?
The original painting was done by Bai Shan. Zhou Silang, the person involved, said that it looked very similar. He asked a painter to copy it, and he compared it himself, and it was not much different from the real person.
Now tell him to draw it blurry, do you think he is stupid?
Bai Shan was also very unhappy, after all, he was the one who drew the original painting.
Bai Shan, who was very particular, went forward and picked up Wang San's portrait. He walked up to him, compared his face carefully and said, "Sir Tang, although this portrait is not exactly the same as the real person, it is at least 70% similar. I don't believe that people who are familiar with Wang San will not recognize him."
Chief Mo and Chief Sun quietly looked up at Bai Shan, wondering what this young man did or where he came from.
Therefore, he frowned slightly.
Bai Shan glanced at them and said, "Sir, the two village heads said that they were old and blind and couldn't recognize what was happening. Is it normal? Could it be that the people in the three villages are also blind? It seems that they are deliberately covering up for us."
Mo Lichang was intimidated by Magistrate Tang, but not Bai Shan. Hearing this, he said, "How dare you, little boy, make such irresponsible statements without any evidence? Sir, everything we say is true. We really have no intention of hiding anything."
County Magistrate Tang smiled at Bai Shan and said, "What do you say?"
Bai Shan collected the painting and returned to Man Bao, saying, "Let's just assume you're telling the truth, sir. The two village heads are so old and blind that they've clearly failed in their duties. Village heads are supposed to manage the villagers on behalf of the imperial court, but they can't even recognize the number of their own households. How can they manage the villagers on behalf of the imperial court?"
Bai Shan glanced down at the two village heads kneeling on the ground and said, "Sir, why don't you be more considerate of them and let them return home to retire."
County Magistrate Tang nodded slightly and said with a smile, "You are right."
Chief Mo and Chief Sun looked pale, but they felt a sense of relief in their hearts.
County Magistrate Tang smiled faintly and said, "Even if Lizhang Mo and Lizhang Sun have committed offenses, they have governed the villagers for many years on behalf of the imperial court. Their offenses should be punished, and their merits should naturally be rewarded. Come, please invite Lizhang Mo and Lizhang Sun to stay in the back hall. Tomorrow I will invite some village chiefs to come and reward them according to their merits."
Lizhang Mo and Lizhang Sun were stunned and immediately fell to the ground to refuse. "We dare not, we dare not. Such unruly people have appeared under our jurisdiction. If you don't punish us, how can you dare to claim any merits?"
County Magistrate Tang said with a half-smile, "You two elders are joking. Merits should be rewarded, and mistakes should naturally be punished."
Lizhang Mo and Lizhang Sun felt a chill in their hearts, knowing that he was not keeping them to reward them, but was waiting to punish them.
But……
The two thought about it carefully and realized that they had done so, but there seemed to be no actual evidence to prove their guilt.
At most, it is just dereliction of duty.
They insisted that they couldn't recognize the people in the paintings, so who can say whether they did recognize them?
After all, they are both really old.
The bailiffs took the two men away.
County Magistrate Tang sneered at their backs.
Manbao stared at County Magistrate Tang, then whispered to Bai Shan, "I think you've been tricked by County Magistrate Tang."
Bai Shan was no fool, and asked, "Are you saying I shouldn't be the first to speak out?"
Manbao: "Be careful or they will hold a grudge against you."
Bai Shan said: "What should I do? I'm angry and I just want to fight back."
Seeing the two men whispering in front of him, County Magistrate Tang couldn't help but point his finger and said, "Can you guys tone it down a bit?"
Manbao and Baishan immediately quieted down.
Robber one, no, it was Wang San, was dragged up immediately.
County Magistrate Tang refilled his tea, took another sip, and beckoned. The clerk immediately came forward with a freshly opened household registration booklet and said, "Sir, based on the testimony of Village Head Sun, we have found Wang San's household registration. His name is Wang San. He has a family of eight. Both his parents are alive. He has two older brothers, both of whom are married, and a nephew. He lives in the 28th household in Sunjia Village..."
Wang San, lying on the ground, looked pale.
County Magistrate Tang glanced at him, threw down a stick and said, "Come here, go and bring all the members of the Wang family here."
Wang San immediately looked up, crawled forward two steps and said, "My lord, my lord, this has nothing to do with my family. They know nothing, nothing at all."
County Magistrate Tang sneered and asked, "What is none of their business?"
Wang San's face choked.
County Magistrate Tang continued to ask, "If it's not their business, then whose business is it? Sun Dashu? Who else besides Sun Dashu?"
After asking these questions, Magistrate Tang slammed the gavel and demanded, "One more question. Do you confess or not? If you don't, someone else will do it for you. By then, I won't have the time to listen to your nonsense. The officials came to your house with your portrait, but your parents and brothers all denied it. This is the crime of harboring someone. The severity of your crime will determine the severity of their punishment!"
The next update will be around 4:00 PM
(End of this chapter)
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