Regardless of whether the documents are genuine or not, the different seals indicate that Xunwangxiang is a forgery.
"Is the content of the documents you saw earlier different from that elsewhere?"
These people all shook their heads.
“We rarely go out. If it weren’t for the township head asking us to come to the county town this time, we would almost never leave the township, and even rarely leave the village.”
"So I don't know what the difference is."
"Do you still remember the contents of the document?"
Dong Da kowtowed and replied, "I don't remember much. Although someone taught us to read, we still don't know many characters. The village chief knows more characters. Every time a document is issued, he reads it to us."
The twenty-odd villagers all said that they could only read twenty or thirty characters, and even though Dong Qi was very diligent, he could only recognize fifty or so.
It's not that they don't want to learn, but the teacher said that you can't bite off more than you can chew, so it takes several days to teach just one word.
Moreover, their workload was too heavy, and later they raised horses, leaving them with almost no time to learn to read.
Song Zhen frowned. This cannot be blamed on the school teacher, because the school teacher has a certain degree of freedom, that is, he can choose how many characters to teach and teach according to students' aptitude.
In a normal village, a student can learn three or four characters a day.
Three months' worth of savings isn't a small amount.
Surprisingly, these villagers only knew these few characters.
However, Dong Qi was quite clever and managed to memorize most of the contents of the document.
So Dong Qi recited part of the document from memory.
Song Zhen then realized that Xunwangxiang was indeed a blatant fabrication.
The official documents of Xunwang Township, which represent the daily labor of the people, have been extended from the four hours stipulated by the leaders to eight hours.
The work week has been increased from five days to seven days, meaning there are no days off.
But in order to make a living, ordinary people still work diligently.
They even took on horse breeding business.
The other official documents were a mixture of truth and falsehood.
With tears in his eyes, Dong Qi said, "My parents died from exhaustion and hunger while doing this kind of labor. The food they were given was not enough to eat, but the villagers thought it was better than when they fled from famine, so they endured it."
"But this time it's really unbearable."
Shen Xi frowned slightly. What were her spies doing?
Why was such a huge oversight not reported in a timely manner?
And this is exactly the question Qi Xiuwen is asking Tang Junyao now.
"Weren't you training spies? How could such a mistake occur?"
Tang Junyao snorted.
"How many spies could I possibly train in a run-down county town? Didn't the leaders send all the ones I trained out to gather intelligence on the world's affairs?"
Qi Xiuwen: ......
That's true.
There aren't many literate people; being able to recognize most characters is the most basic skill a spy needs.
Many of the spies trained by Tang Junyao failed to graduate.
The vast majority of information in various places comes from feedback from local officials.
Qi Xiuwen immediately arranged for people to arrest Lin Tai, the mayor of Xunwang Township.
Meanwhile, in the main hall of the county government, Song Zhen asked Dong Da, "Do you usually have time for militia training?"
"I don't have time. I only train once or twice a day, and I'm already exhausted. If I train any more, it will be even more exhausting."
In other words, it is highly likely that there were no real militia in Xunwang Township.
"Are there any outsiders in the village who are literate?"
"Yes, but the township head recruited all the literate people, saying that the township was short of people and made them do clerical work."
This is also true; in many towns and villages, local people who are literate are recruited to work in clerical positions.
Because of the previous clerical staff, some have left, some have died, and not many are left.
This also reflects that there are probably not many literate people in any of the villages in Xunwang Township.
No wonder they were deceived in the contract.
Song Zhen asked all the villagers, and this was basically the situation.
Then Song Zhen turned his gaze to Qian: "What's your name?"
"I am Qian De, and my master is the owner of the horse farm, named Qian Zhen."
"Has Qian Zhen not been summoned yet?"
"Reporting to you, sir, we are currently searching for Qian Zhen."
"What happened?"
"The person is not in their usual place. We have searched the entire county, but we have not been able to find them."
Qian De objected, saying, "No, I saw the boss this morning."
Song Zhen glanced at him: "Where did you see him?"
"It was at the horse farm; they left around noon."
The person disappeared in just one afternoon?
Is it because something happened at the horse farm that they went into hiding, or is there really some problem?
"Keep searching."
"yes."
Shenxi gave Zheng Ankang a look, and Zheng Ankang immediately understood. He ordered people to search for Qi Xiuwen and also notified Qi Xiuwen, who was also a key witness.
Song Zhen had no choice but to ask Qian De, "Do you know that Qian Zhen is looking into raising horses in Wangxiang?"
Qian shook his head vigorously: "This humble subject does not know. I was recently bought. The master saw that I can train horses, so he hired me."
"Buy people? Doesn't Qian know that buying and selling people is illegal in this county?"
"I am not from this county. I came from Nanning Prefecture. Because I have no other skills besides taming horses, I ended up in the hands of this master."
Unable to get any further information from them, the court had no choice but to temporarily desist and adjourn.
After the court session ended, Shenxi kept Dong Qi behind for a private interrogation.
"You say the two seals are different, but what exactly do you see that's different?"
Dong Qi took out the seal again and said, "Generally speaking, there is no difference between the two seals. The person who carved the seal is really skilled. Even the handwriting on it is almost identical. But if I may be so bold as to ask you if you know what material the leader's seal is made of?"
"Oh? Can you identify the material of the seal used by the leader?"
Dong Qi shook his head.
Shen Xi smiled and said, "The leader's seal is made of a special type of steel. Is there any difference between it and a bronze or iron seal?"
"Of course there is a difference. The stamps made with copper or iron are more solid and stable than those made with ordinary bronze or iron stamps. The patterns are clearer and more profound, and the font seems more flexible, with a kind of power that seems to penetrate the paper."
Chenxi was shocked.
As expected, true masters are found among ordinary people.
"Have you studied seal carving before, or did you teach yourself?"
Dong Qi smiled bitterly.
“I don’t even know many characters, so I naturally learned by myself through trial and error. But I used to work as a shop assistant in a jade shop, and my boss was a seal enthusiast. I saw a lot of seals and learned some of them. Then I slowly started carving them myself.”
Shenxi thought to himself, "This is a genius! Given time, he might become a master sculptor."
"Would you be willing to work for the commander?"
Dong Qi: ......
Who are you? Although I know you must be extraordinary, can you really be the leader's boss?
Seeing his hesitation, Shenxi guessed what was on his mind.
He smiled slightly and said, "I am the commander."
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