Some ran to their relatives' homes, some bought properties in the city and hid in their own houses, and some had no relatives or properties in the city, so they could only find ways to hide.
However, a large number of landlords and their followers were soon arrested, because the people in Hangzhou had been fed up with them in recent days. When they heard that the court was finally going to arrest people, they were immediately excited and led the officers to arrest people.
The stall owners whose stalls had been knocked over, the shop landlords who had been smashed, looted and burned before, and the citizens who were afraid to go out on the streets because of these people, all helped the police to find the way.
How could those landlords know as much as the local people in Hangzhou?
The result was that in less than two days, more than 6,000 people in the city were all brought to justice. Except for a very few who saw something wrong, more than 99% of them were imprisoned in the Hangzhou City Prison and the Imperial City Prison.
For a time, the prison was overcrowded. A small room of a few square meters often held more than ten prisoners, causing great suffering to the landlords who had lived a life of luxury.
"It's unfair. It's not me. You've arrested the wrong person."
"I didn't rebel. We just came to the city to stroll around. We saw they were making trouble and just followed them to watch the fun. The court can't frame good people."
"Sir, please let us go. We are blinded by greed and we will never do that again."
"Humph, we haven't broken any law at all. The court can't just arrest people without reason."
"Yes, is it wrong to protest the imperial court's tyranny in the streets? What law prohibits this? Previously, officials smashed the prime minister's house and nothing happened. Is this how the imperial court treats us?"
Some people in the cell cried out for justice, some pretended to be just bystanders, some regretted their actions, and some were more stubborn and stubbornly believed that they had not broken any law at all.
However, no matter how much I shouted, it was of no use.
There is naturally a list for those who cry out for injustice and pretend to be just bystanders.
If regret can resolve any issue, then what is the use of government officials?
As for those who are tough, they naturally have the ability to restore their memories.
Xia Song then asked Ma Xun, the director of the Liangzhe Road Criminal Court, to be in charge of the trial, mainly to interrogate the personnel, who planned the conspiracy and what they had done in recent days.
Basically, it was impossible to lie because there were too many people. For example, there were too many witnesses when it came to looting, smashing, and burning.
Especially in cases of injury or even death, the court did not need to arrest the criminals because the landlords had already handed them over themselves.
After all, this matter involves too many things. If the person is not handed over, I'm afraid everyone will suffer.
Therefore, after the overnight interrogation, about a few days later, Ma Xun reported to Xia Song on the arrests and investigations in the past few days.
"Prime Minister, through this extensive search within the city, we have apprehended a total of 6,134 rioters. Over a thousand of the powerful families listed have been apprehended, and the rest are their followers."
"According to their confessions, at least half of them left Hangzhou after the riot on the 20th of last month. This means there are still nearly a thousand people on the list who have not been apprehended."
Inside the office of the Ministry of Justice, Ma Xun recounted the situation and continued, "Over 130 people were involved in the assault, and over 60 were injured. Some were beaten, others were trampled, and all have been treated."
"What happened to the three dead people?"
"They were all poor vendors. At that time, that group of wealthy families led their retainers to shout at the gate of the Transport Commissioner's Office and even threw sand and stones at the office. Du Si did not take any action. Seeing that the Transport Commissioner's Office was silent, they were furious and smashed the vendors along the street and burned down their shops. If the government had not responded in time, they would have been defeated."
"I see."
Xia Song nodded slightly, then asked, "Did those Hangzhou newspapers spread rumors?"
"They're all talking about these powerful families acting recklessly."
Ma Xun hesitated for a moment, then added, "However, there are also two newspapers saying that the court is inactive and has not taken any action in recent days."
"Well, you go first."
Xia Song thought about it, then stood up and left the office of the Ministry of Justice and went to the office of the Transport Commissioner.
Not long after, he arrived at Du Qi's place.
Du Qi came out to greet them. Now, because of this matter, the heads of their five departments were also very busy.
We have to pacify the people and hunt down those who have escaped, so we don't have a moment of free time.
After Xia Song came over, he didn't say much. He directly told him his request: "The court is paying attention to this matter now. This matter must be cut into pieces quickly and cannot be delayed for too long."
"yes."
Du Qi replied.
"Immediately issue an official document, instructing the provincial and county governments, the Censorate, and the Imperial City Administration to jointly investigate the case and arrest all remaining individuals on the list."
"yes."
"Post a notice in the city to appease the people."
"yes."
"Go and tell all the newspapers to stop talking about things they don't want to talk about. Wait for the government to issue a notice, and they will give them a satisfactory answer."
"yes."
"Well, I still have to go to the Imperial City Division, so I won't stay long."
Xia Song only sat in the Transportation Office for a while and then left without stopping.
He actually understood what Zhao Jun meant.
That is to pay attention to the impact and degree, and not to kill indiscriminately.
Now the imperial court allows private individuals in various places to establish newspapers to increase the channels for news dissemination.
The purpose is naturally not only to allow the people to read newspapers, but also to popularize the court's policies and trends.
At the same time, it also has the meaning of supervising local officials to prevent them from acting recklessly and deceiving their superiors and subordinates.
So the court actually had some control over the news, but not much. The Information Bureau even allowed them to publish articles criticizing local officials.
In this way, local governments will be supervised by public opinion and will be more restrained.
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