Mizhou is located in the Siberian dense forest three thousand miles north of Broken Leaf City, which is also one of the destinations for exiled prisoners in Britain under Li Lu's rule.Sun Jincheng, who previously worked in the judicial department of Broken Leaves, was executed for corruption and bribery by his boss because he followed the wrong person and stood on the wrong team, although he did not commit a crime, but he did not report his boss, so Li Lu demoted him to a bitter cold place like Mizhou as a prefect.When he took over as the prefect of Mizhou, in addition to handing over all the affairs to him, the prefect also said: Mizhou is divided into two cities, north and south, with the south city under the control of its own government and the yamen of the criminal department, and the north city is managed by the Luo family, don't mess with this rule.It turned out that Luo Qing, the head of the Luo family, was the former right attendant of the British Empire's Ministry of Personnel, and the border state of Mizhou, to which Mizhou belonged, and the four successive prefects were all his students when he was teaching at Broken Leaf University.Sun Jincheng is also a veteran of officialdom, and when he first arrived, he naturally had to visit Luo Qing first.On this day, Sun Jincheng asked Zhou Cheng, the chief secretary of Mizhou, to lead the way and go to Luo's house.Zhou Cheng is a native of Mizhou, has worked in the yamen for nearly 20 years, and is extremely familiar with the affairs of Mizhou folk and officialdom.The two talked all the way, and then came to the door of the Luo family's house.The two of them stepped forward to explain their intentions to the doorman.After a while, a middle-aged man walked out, hugged his fists and said, "I don't know if the Mansion is coming, and I will miss it." ”Zhou Cheng introduced on the side, this is Luo Wenbin, the eldest son of the Luo family.Luo Wenbin said: "My father is resting, and it is inconvenient to come out to see the mansion, please forgive me." ”Sun Jincheng replied: "Mr.
Luo is polite, it was the lower officials who disturbed him." ”Sun Jincheng saw that his intention had been achieved, so he got up and said goodbye.As the two of them were on their way back, a vendor shouted behind them, "Two guest officers, bring back some fresh sesame cakes to taste." ”As soon as Sun Jincheng turned around, his eyes looked at each other, and the two of them were stunned for a moment.Suddenly, the peddler turned and ran away.Zhou Cheng on the side asked in surprise: "Fuzun, is this person ......"
Sun Jincheng pondered for a while and said, "Go back to the yamen first." ”After returning to Yamen, Sun Jincheng asked Zhou Cheng to show him all the case files of the prisoners who had been escorted from other places in the past three years.Subsequently, he called Zhou Cheng over and said, "The hawker I saw in Beicheng the day before yesterday was a murderer I tried when I was the former Pingti criminal officer, named Ma Zhilong.I sentenced him to 3,000 li and exiled him to Mizhou.It's only been three years, how did he escape hard labor?
”Zhou Cheng explained: "Because Beicheng has always been a place for the yamen to settle and distribute prisoners, it is also managed by the Luo family.As for why he escaped servitude, this is to ask Luo Ge Lao, this is a long-standing habit. ”Early the next morning, Sun Jincheng ordered the patrol captain to go to Beicheng to bring Ma Zhilong for questioning.Near noon, the patrol captain came back empty-handed, saying that Ma Zhilong died at home last night, and the body is now in Luo's house.Sun Jincheng immediately went to Luo's house again.In the middle of the courtyard, Ma Zhilong's body was prominently placed.His chest was stained with blood, and he was apparently stabbed in the heart and died.Sun Jincheng asked Luo Wenbin: "Who was the first to find the deceased, can you call him for questioning?"
”Luo Wenbin seemed to be surprised by Sun Jincheng's ignorance of the rules, and he reminded: "Liu Fuzun, he died in Beicheng. ”Sun Jincheng sneered: "Human life is at stake, the police department should take over this case, besides, my British Empire has always advocated the rule of law, when will the law be handed over to your family?"
”Luo Wenbin's face changed, and he said unhappily: "Liu Fuzun, please also give me three days for my father's sake, and then I will personally escort the murderer to visit the Yamen." ”Sun Jincheng was about to say something, but Zhou Cheng glanced at him and pulled Sun Jincheng to leave.When he got out of the door, Zhou Cheng sighed: "Fuzun, it is the blessing of the people that you are as evil as an enemy, but you are new to it, please be calm." ”Sun Jincheng frowned and said, "You seem to have something in your words, why don't you tell me directly." ”Zhou Cheng wanted to speak and stopped, but finally shook his head and said nothing.The next day, Sun Jincheng checked the information and learned that at least 300 criminals from all over the country were exiled here every year in Mizhou.It's just strange that although British exile is subject to the supervision of the government, they can also return to their hometowns to visit relatives or something when they apply, and if the prisoner makes a mark, he can also be pardoned, and the British law clearly stipulates that all exiles except for the most vicious people have a time limit.In the case file, only a very small number of prisoners were recorded leaving Mizhou.Why, then, did the other exiles not return home?
When he was confused, Zhou Cheng came in and told him that someone was asking to see him.Sun Jincheng went to the living room.When this man saw Sun Jincheng, he fell to the ground and knelt, and when he raised his head, he was already in tears.This man claimed to be Lin Yuan, who was exiled from Gaochang more than ten years ago, and Lin Yuan cried: "Fuzun, please save us from the dire situation." ”Lin Yuan said that over the years, every time a new prisoner came, the Luo family didn't say a word, and they were thirty killings.Those who have money in their families are not only exempt from this punishment, but also enjoy a certain amount of freedom; Those who had no money, after the fight, were dragged to the mountains behind Beicheng to serve hard labor.Lin Yuan also revealed a piece of news, that is, the fact that the Luo family's blatant management of exiled prisoners is intolerable by national law, and it has been blinded by the previous prefects and the Luo family, and there are still many people who don't know that exile also has a time limit.Sun Jincheng was taken aback, if this was the case, this was the crime of bullying the king.However, he couldn't listen to Lin Yuan's words, so he asked, "Then how did you escape?"
”Lin Yuan sighed: "Fuzun, the wife of the prisoner's family sold all the family property and sent it to the Luo family, which gave the villain some limited freedom. ”Zhou Cheng on the side suddenly asked, "Do you know Ma Zhilong?"
”Lin Yuan nodded and said, "I know."
After his family took a large sum of money, the Luo family gave him freedom.Last night, he asked me for a drink, and said worriedly that Fuzun had seen him, and that according to Fuzun's character, he must find out why he was free.As a result, he died the next day.I guess there was an inside line of the Luo family in the restaurant at that time, and I killed him before you investigated. ”Sun Jincheng nodded thoughtfully.Three days later, Luo Wenbin came to the yamen empty-handed, and after seeing Sun Jincheng, he pleaded guilty: "Fuzun, Luo is incompetent and failed to find the murderer of Ma Zhilong." ”Sun Jincheng said mockingly: "Isn't Beicheng your Luo family, how can you not even find out a murder case?"
”Luo Wenbin's face turned red and said, "I'm ashamed, everything is left to the Fuzun." ”Sun Jincheng said: "Then I want all the information of the exiled prisoners in Beicheng." ”Luo Wenbin flatly refused, indicating that if Sun Jincheng wanted to take over the exiled prisoners, he had to get the warrant of the prefect first.Sun Jincheng had no choice but to change the topic and said, "So, what about Ma Zhilong's corpse?"
”Luo Wenbin said: "According to the regulations of the detainees, it is recorded in the record, and the body has been buried. ”The two sides did not speculate, and Luo Wenbin got up to say goodbye.After he left, Sun Jincheng ordered Zhou Cheng to take Lin Yuan and go to the mountain behind Beicheng where the prisoners were working to investigate the situation.When it was dark, the three of them came to the mining area, and the three of them approached carefully, crouched on the ground and looked down, only to see that the lights were bright under the mountain, and countless laborers were naked and unkempt to work.And more than a dozen overseers stood on a high place, condescendingly watching......
On the way back, Sun Jincheng asked Lin Yuan what kind of mine this was.Lin Yuan shook his head and said that he didn't know, the Luo family kept it very secret, he had been here for eight years, and he still didn't know anything about the situation of this mine, but I heard the prisoners say that this was the Luo family's private mine.Back to his yamen, Sun Jincheng immediately wrote a secret letter to his current governor of Shangfeng Baikal Zuo Li, in which he made it clear what he had seen in Mizhou these days, and asked Zuo Li to make a decision, but he was reprimanded by Zuo Li's letter, and told him that the Luo family managed the prisoners, he knew that the old man Luo Qing could not give face, he only needed to manage Nancheng.