Zhang Weixian looked at his grandfather awkwardly. It wasn't a big deal to be scolded. He was used to it since he was a child.
However, he didn't expect his grandfather to come up with such an idea. He was hesitant to tell Song Qian.
"Alright, just do as I say and tell the girl from the Song family. It's up to them whether they want to listen or not," Zhang Yong said with a wave of his hand.
"I understand!" Zhang Weixian agreed and nodded.
Zhang Yong nodded and said, "Alright, go!"
What a bunch of troublemakers! "With that, Zhang Rong stood up and left, looking dispirited.
When the sun rose, many people gathered at the entrance of the Cangzhou government office. Everyone was here to watch the public trial.
People from Dongchang and the Imperial Bodyguard were also there. They were the bailiffs today.
There were chairs and tables on both sides of the hall. Those were the seats for the public.
As time passed, the entrance of the government office became more and more crowded.
When the sun completely rose, a group of people walked into the hall from the back of the government office.
At the head of the group was the Left Deputy Imperial Censor, Sun Piyang. Behind him were Wang Yongji and Cao Yikui. Behind them were Wang Zhong and Xing Shangzhi.
After the five people came in, Sun Piyang sat at the interrogation table, while the other four sat at the bench.
The Cangzhou Zhizhou Yao Renji had been waiting for a long time. He sat at the back with the other Cangzhou officials.
"Enter the court!"
Sun Piyang didn't hesitate. He slammed the gavel and shouted.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards on both sides struck the Wind-Fire Cudgel in their hands and shouted loudly, "Mighty!"
Sun Piyang said, "Bring the human trafficker Zhao Cheng!"
"Bring the human trafficker Zhao Cheng!"
After the shout, a man in his forties was brought in. He knelt down and kowtowed to Sun Piyang, then quietly knelt to the side.
"Human trafficker Zhao Cheng, where are you from?
What do you do for a living? "
Sun Piyang didn't look up at Zhao Cheng. He was flipping through a stack of papers, as if he was looking for something important.
The entire hall was abnormally quiet. Everyone was waiting for Zhao Cheng to speak.
"Master, this lowly one is Zhao Cheng, from Cangzhou. This lowly one runs a cloth shop," Zhao Cheng quickly replied.
Sun Piyang nodded. "Zhao Cheng, if you're a cloth shop owner, why were you arrested?"
"Your Excellency, I was arrested for smuggling salt," Zhao Cheng quickly replied.
Sun Piyang raised his head and looked at Zhao Cheng, then said, "Then tell me, how exactly did you buy and sell illicit salt?
When we arrested you yesterday, we found five hundred pounds of salt in the cellar of your shop's backyard. Tell us where the salt came from. "
"Your Excellency, this lowly one was forced to sell illegal salt!" Zhao Cheng said with a sobbing tone.
"This lowly one was originally a cloth shop owner. One time, I sold a batch of mixed colored cloth and lost 1500 taels of silver. This lowly one really couldn't make ends meet, so I thought of borrowing some money from someone." Zhao Cheng knelt there and said, "At this time, the Zhou family's steward, Zhou Lin, came to find this lowly one.
"He said he was willing to lend me money, and the interest was only three percent. This lowly one thought that the interest wasn't high, so he borrowed the money himself.
"By the time this lowly one put on the cloth and was ready to recoup his losses, the warehouse caught fire. A thousand taels of silver worth of goods were all burned down.
At this time, the Zhou family's steward, Zhou Lin, came and asked for the eight hundred taels of silver he lent me.
"How could this lowly one have the money to pay back!"
Zhao Cheng cried at this point. "But the Zhou family said that if I owed money, it was only right and proper. If I didn't pay back, they would take away my shop. If it wasn't enough, they would take away my house and land."
At this point, Zhao Cheng cried and said, "This lowly one had no choice!
Without the shop, without the house, and without land, what would our family eat! "
"The Zhou family's steward, Zhou Lin, told this lowly one that he had a profitable business, which was to sell salt to the Zhou family."
Zhao Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "This lowly one knew that the Zhou family was a salt merchant, and selling salt was also a profitable business, so I thought that the Zhou family was being kind."
"But after a few transactions, this lowly one realized that this was not official salt at all, but illegal salt. My lord, this lowly one was forced to do this!"
Sun Piyang nodded and said, "Sign and stamp!" After the signature and stamp were done, Sun Piyang directly said, "Bring in the criminal Li San!"
As the human traffickers were brought in one by one, the sixteen of them all confessed to their crimes. The sixteen of them gave out a total of four people from the Zhou family, including the warehouse steward, Zhou Cang, the outer courtyard steward, Zhou Lin, the Zhou family's accountant, Zhou Quan, and the last one was the Zhou family's guard, Zhou Lian.
"According to the 'Law of the Daming', anyone who sells illegal salt will be flogged a hundred times and punished for three years.
Seeing that most of you were coerced by the Zhou family, this official will convict you of the crime of selling illegal salt and damaging the salt law. Do you accept this? "
"My lord, we accept this wholeheartedly!"
Sun Piyang nodded and said, "According to the 'Law of the Daming', 'Anyone who damages the salt law, the buyer and the seller will each be flogged eighty times, their dental insurance will be reduced by one grade, and the price of the salt will be added to the government.'
All of you will be flogged eighty times. "
"All the profits from selling illegal salt will be confiscated, and you will also be fined five hundred taels of silver. Do you have any objections?"
"My lord, no!"
The sixteen people hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed. "Thank you Great Lord, thank you Great Lord, you are truly a righteous and just man!"
Sun Piyang slammed the gavel and said loudly, "This official does not need your praise. This official only hopes that you will remember what happened today and not commit any more crimes. If you do so again, whether it is this official or the Daming's law, we will not let you off lightly."
"Yes, my lord, we will bear this in mind!" The sixteen people hurriedly kowtowed.
Sun Piyang said in a clear voice to the people standing outside, "Does anyone have any objections?"
This time, no one said anything. The sixteen people had pleaded guilty, and each of their families had confiscated salt. The most was over a thousand catties, and the least was a few hundred catties. How could you still have any doubts?
Even if you had doubts, you couldn't!
Yao Renji's face was ashen. His body trembled violently, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
He had never thought that Sun Piyang would arrest all of the Zhou family's subordinates, and that all of them had witnesses and material evidence. Yao Renji really wanted to ask Sun Piyang, how did you catch them so accurately?
I didn't even know, and there were so many people. Could it be that there was a traitor in the Zhou family?
Sun Piyang didn't care what Yao Renji thought. He had been suppressing a bellyful of anger yesterday, and today it was finally time to vent it.
"Zhizhou Yao, do you have any objections to my punishment?"
Sun Piyang sat in the court and looked at Yao Renji. He dragged out his official voice and said, "If Zhizhou Yao feels that my punishment was unfair, there is no harm in saying it."
Wang Zhong and Xing Shangzhi looked at each other and smiled. They all said that civil officials were careful and held grudges. Today, it seemed that this was true.