After the arsonists were taken away, Xu Wei and Wu Cheng'en also walked out of the warehouse.

Looking back at the Jiazi Warehouse, whose windows were only blackened, Wu Chengen suggested with some concern: "Do a full-scale show. If you really want to frame someone, you should burn down Jiazi Warehouse completely."

"There's no need to go through so much trouble. What if it burns somewhere else?" Xu Wei smiled and said, "Then you can write whatever you want on the criminal case file."

The shameless face of the criminal lawyer is just like the sadness of a lonely egg in the dark night.

"It's better to be cautious. I heard that Inspector Lin will be visiting Kunshan soon. Aren't you afraid that he will catch you?" Wu Cheng'en reminded in a low voice.

"Come on, catch him, and let's have fun together." Xu Wei said lightly, "We have plenty of time anyway."

"I'm talking to you seriously." Wu Cheng'en gave him a helpless look. Although they had been together day and night for almost two years, he still couldn't adapt to Xu Wei's crazy style.

Isn't it said that Xu Wenchang is the most famous scholar? Why does he look more and more like a psychopath?

Oh, yes, he was. Thinking of this, Old Wu felt that Fatty Xu was much more normal...

"Seriously, the same applies." Xu Wenchang said with a grin, "If he dares to find fault with me, I will poke his loopholes and make him pay the price."

"Well, fine. You decide." Wu Cheng'en was helpless. He had to make things complicated for a problem that could be easily solved. He was just bored and looking for trouble.

When they left the reserve warehouse and came to the deserted street, Wu Chengen asked in a low voice: "One last question, how did you know they would definitely come to burn the warehouse?"

"I can tell the future." Xu Wei raised his head proudly. Seeing that Wu Cheng'en didn't believe him at all, he smiled and told the truth:

"In fact, I heard that Inspector Lin is coming to inspect our county. I guess he will definitely inspect the reserve warehouse. Then our trick of passing off fake goods as genuine ones will be exposed."

"Yes." Wu Cheng'en nodded. At the beginning, rumors were spreading in the county, and the people were scrambling for rice, flour, grain and oil. It seemed that chaos was about to break out. Xu Wei took action to crack down on hoarding and at the same time used tricks to create the illusion of sufficient food supply.

In fact, due to the blockade of the Dongting Chamber of Commerce and the famine, everyone was short of food. Wu Ji and Taicang Wang family tried their best, but they could only send two or three ships of food every day.

Two or three ships of grain were barely enough for work-in-lieu-of-relief, and were not enough to feed nearly 100,000 citizens in the city.

But Xu Wei was not panicked at all, as he knew that most people had some food stored at home.

Moreover, the price of grain was high at that time. One stone of rice could be sold for more than two taels of silver. But by the end of June, when the new grain arrived, the price of grain dropped by half.

So normally, as long as the citizens have enough food at home, they will not hoard food at a high price at this time. Naturally, they will not rush to buy at the same time. In this way, only 300 to 500 shi of food per day is needed to meet the market demand.

Xu Wei still had 3,000 dan of grain obtained from the raid on five grain stores, as well as more than 2,000 dan of grain donated by the gentry, which was barely enough to last for half a month.

But the premise is that there should not be a rush to buy food. Once the citizens start panic buying, I am afraid that all the food will be sold out in one day.

Therefore, Xu Wei ordered the grain-delivering fleet to use sandbags to pretend to be rice bags, creating the illusion that five grain ships arrived at Kunshan every day. In this way, the people would see that there was more than enough food to feed everyone every day, so they would naturally not panic.

But lies are lies after all, and sand cannot be turned into grain. After half a month, there should be 18,000 dan of grain in the reserve warehouse account, but Xu Wei only has 2,000 dan... The gap of 16,000 dan, if no one checks, naturally does not matter, and he can find a way to balance the account later.

But once the inspector surnamed Lin arrived, Xu Wei's trick of "passing off fakes as real" would be exposed immediately.

"So you plan to..." Wu Cheng'en has been hanging around in the yamen for many years, so he knew what this guy wanted to do as soon as he heard it.

"Burn down the warehouse yourself? It's all over now."

"Well, as a last resort, I had to light the fire myself. That's why I looked after all the families of Ku Ding and bribed them with a large sum of money." Xu Wei said with a proud smile:

"Of course, I still hope that the fire will be set by the Xu family. After all, we are the righteous side. Fortunately, they did not let me down and came after all."

"Xu Fan framed Hu Ruzhen back then, and now he is still a dog that can't change its bad habits. Once he can't win the direct confrontation, he will try to use shady tactics behind the scenes." He gritted his teeth and said:

"Now that I have fallen into your hands, I must vent my anger!"

"Alas..." Wu Cheng'en sighed, thinking that it seemed that Kunshan County would never be peaceful.

~~

The next morning, citizens on Yaqian Street in Kunshan heard bursts of gongs coming from the gate of the yamen.

Knowing that there was going to be something exciting to watch, the people immediately gathered at the gate of the yamen.

Then a team of constables in bright red uniforms were seen coming out of the gate, escorting a long line of men in shackles.

This was a humiliating punishment created by the Ming Dynasty, called "parading with a shackle on the neck". The prisoner would wear a wooden shackle and be paraded through the streets under the supervision of yamen runners as a warning to the public.

In order to achieve the effect of "clarifying the punishment and supporting education", gongs were beaten to attract people to watch, and the crimes of the persons being punished were loudly announced.

Well, actually humiliating people is the main purpose.

Among the official festivities that the common people love to watch, the "parade of wearing shackles" can be ranked in the top three... second only to beheadings and the county magistrate's parade.

Compared with the former's excitement and the latter's pomp, the cangue tour mainly wins the topic because this punishment is generally used for crimes of incest, immorality, and robbery.

So the common people looked at the long line of men with shackles around their necks and chains around their feet and discussed with great interest:

"Hey, group sex, what kind of crime is this?"

"It's probably a gang of robbers..."

"What? This is the group of people led by Manager Xu and Mr. Zhang!" They were seen everywhere in the county town, and many people recognized this group of people in shackles.

"Hey, it's true!" The citizens couldn't help but gasp when they saw the goatee and the iconic big mole.

This group of people are the adopted sons of the Xu family. They have always looked down on the government and have been bullying and tyrannical. Unexpectedly, they fell this time.

"What have they done wrong?" the people asked loudly.

The officer just kept beating the gong, turning a deaf ear, and escorted the group of men to the Shenming Pavilion. When he saw that most of the people had gathered, he announced in a loud voice:

"Yesterday, we arrested the arsonists Xu Yang, Zhang Dawu, Ma Dadan, Zhou Wang and others. They set fire to and destroyed 16,000 dan of grain in the reserve warehouse!"

"What?!" The people were furious when they heard this. All the food in the reserve warehouse was burned!

"The criminals confessed everything, and the county magistrate ordered that their homes be searched first for emergency use, and then they were paraded around in shackles, with their crimes announced, allowing the people to spit on them. After that, the matter would be reported to the government, requesting that they be sentenced to death according to law!"

"Pah! Pah! Pah!" Before the official finished his words, countless thick sputums sprayed towards Zhang Dawu and his gang like raindrops. The scene was spectacular.

ps. This is the third update, and there is one more to go.