That morning, long queues formed in front of the county gates of Wuxian and Changshu, where order had been restored.
Citizens came forward to surrender and return all kinds of looted items, including bronzeware, silk, powder, ham, toilets, books, whips, candles, etc.
A row of tables was set up on the right side of the county government's eight-character wall.
These days, the clerks and clerks who were hiding somewhere unknown were registering the returned stolen goods one by one.
After the registration is completed, the county will issue a receipt to the citizen who turned himself in. The citizen will put his fingerprint on it to guarantee that all the stolen goods have been returned. This will be a token of innocence, ensuring that they will not be held accountable for taking advantage of the fire to rob.
Then they can go home.
On the left side of the eight-character wall, there were shackles on two or three hundred criminals who were caught last night and this morning.
These people were all stripped naked, had their heads shaved, and were wearing wooden shackles weighing dozens or hundreds of pounds. They cried like ghosts, neither human nor ghost.
They were not crying because they were exposed, or even because the shackles were too heavy, but because they could not accept the reality of having no hair.
Our body and hair are given by our parents. Without hair, are we still human?
How can I meet people with a bald head from now on...
Since no one except monks had ever shaved their heads, these fools didn't realize that their hair would grow back.
The eight-character walls are on the left and right, and the contrast between leniency and strictness is very obvious, which greatly shocked the citizens.
Now those who were greedy for money and didn't want to return the stolen goods were frightened and quickly took the stolen things and ran to the gate of the county government to line up.
As a result, the stolen goods lasted for a whole day, and the large area in the county government office was filled with piles of stolen goods...
Although no one from Prefect Cai's side returned the stolen money, they still reaped a considerable amount of benefits.
At noon that day, more than a dozen citizens who participated in the arson came forward to surrender.
Cai Guoxi interrogated these damn arsonists in the lobby that had been burned open.
Looking at the dark ruins and Laogongzu's face which was darker than the walls, the arsonists were so frightened that their livers were trembling. How could they dare to hide anything?
There was no need for severe torture, and they all confessed everything.
These people were indeed accomplices who were instigated, and the real leaders were the Xu family servants who came out of the Humble Administrator's Garden!
Although Xu Xu and his friends had been deliberately hiding their identities, they were all from Suzhou and would see each other every day. After a few days of jumping around, someone would recognize them, and soon it would become a well-known secret...
Seeing that everyone was pointing the finger at the Xu family, Magistrate Cai felt so angry that veins popped out on his forehead.
New and old grudges came to his mind, and he must take revenge!
Cai Guoxi asked Chen Tongzhi to take charge of the aftermath, while he hurried to the governor's office.
In the governor's office, in the signing room.
Lin Zhongcheng had just returned from an inspection tour in the city and was considering how to write a memorial to report the civil unrest when Cai Guoxi came to ask for a meeting.
Tian Baiguang brought in the furious Prefect Cai, and Lin Run asked him to sit down and talk.
"Why are you so angry?" Lin Run asked with a slight frown.
He knew that Cai Guoxi was a famous official of the School of Confucianism, who emphasized the cultivation of qi and absolutism. He would never lose his temper like this.
"Your Highness, I have already found out that the Xu family was behind the arson attack on the government office! This is the confession of the accomplices."
Cai Guoxi stood up and handed Lin Run a confession with fingerprints all over it with both hands.
"Which Xu family?" Lin Run took the question calmly and asked even though he knew the answer.
"Who else could it be? The Xu family in Songjiang!" Cai Guoxi said with a face full of resentment: "Only his family would be so bold!"
Lin Run nodded but did not answer. After reading the confession carefully, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, looked out the window and fell silent.
Lin Run was not surprised at this result. He had long guessed that the Xu family was behind the chaos in Suzhou.
The confession submitted by Cai Guoxi now only confirms his guess.
He was worried before whether the Gu and Lu families would get involved. But looking at the performance of the two families in suppressing the riot, it was clear that they had clearly drawn a clear line between themselves and the Xu family.
If it were only the Xu family, things would be easier.
In Lin Run's opinion, there are only two reasons for the Xu family's move.
One was to lure the tiger away from the mountain, forcing himself to leave Songjiang and return to Suzhou.
Secondly, it was to warn him that if he continued to insist on surveying the land in Songjiang, the chaos would not just be in Suzhou.
Once Jiangnan was in chaos, he would not even be able to serve as the chief of firefighting. He would be transferred away sadly after repeated impeachments.
This is by no means an exaggeration.
Lin Run was well aware that as the governor of Yingtian, he had no advantage over a retired minister whose students and former officials were all over the world.
He was even at a moral disadvantage because he was promoted by Lord Xu.
If you continue to fight, you may end up being the loser.
Should I accept the warning and take a step back to see the bigger picture, or should I fight to the end and have a decisive battle with the Xu family?
Even Lin Run felt the heavy pressure, which made him speechless for a long time.
Cai Guoxi stood aside without breathing.
He could understand Lin Run's inner struggle, thinking that Zhongcheng was only 38 years old and had an extremely bright future. Was it necessary for him to fight to the death with the Xu family and sacrifice his career and reputation?
On the contrary, if Zhongcheng could take a step back, I believe the Xu family would reciprocate and give Zhongcheng a way out.
Just when Cai Guoxi was feeling depressed and thought that there was no hope of revenge, he saw the governor turned around.
The afternoon sun shone through the window, illuminating Lin Run's face with clear lines like a sculpture, and making his gaze even more determined and unyielding.
He stared at Cai Guoxi and spoke word by word: "I don't care who he is or what his background is. As long as he breaks the law, he must be severely punished!"
"Yes, I understand!" Cai Guoxi's blood immediately boiled. He naturally understood that Zhongcheng meant to fight the Xu family to the end!
Then Lin Run gave the order: "Immediately seal off the Humble Administrator's Garden, arrest the arson suspects, interrogate them strictly and report back!"
"As you command!" Cai Guoxi straightened his chest and answered loudly, then said with a moved look on his face: "Don't worry, Zhongcheng, I will know what to do and what not to do."
"You don't have to worry about causing trouble for me." Lin Run didn't appreciate his kindness and waved his hand.
"What is the prefectural government? It represents the imperial court's rule over the prefecture! How dare the Xu family burn it down? How arrogant they are!"
"If we don't punish the past and serve as a warning to future generations, will Suzhou be ruled by the Zhu family or the Xu family in the future?!" He pounded his fist on the table and gave a stern order:
"Make a big show of it. The louder the better! Let all the people of Suzhou see who is behind this."
"Zhongcheng is wise!" Cai Guoxi understood the music and knew that this was the prelude to a decisive battle with the Xu family. He clasped his hands towards Lin Run and said, "I know what to do. I'll do it right away!"
"Go." Lin Run nodded, watched Cai Guoxi walk away quickly, then sat back at the desk and started writing a memorial.
ps. The third update. No more tonight.