Chapter 1173
Chapter 1173
Chapter 1173
Good things don’t go out and bad things spread thousands of miles away. All kinds of gossip about the fire at Tongsheng Wharf spread throughout Hangzhou City within a day. In addition to the Hangzhou government office in charge of local administration, the Zhejiang Chief Envoy and the Police Department located in the city The three major yamen of the envoy and the commander of the envoy also received rumors one after another.However, these yamen, either out of caution or disdain, did not make timely clarifications on certain "rumors" from the outside world.Whether it was due to bureaucratic style or other reasons, this relatively slow response undoubtedly contributed to the fermentation of the entire incident.
On the second day after the fire broke out, the Hangzhou Government Office received a joint complaint from Lin De, a businessman from Ningbo Prefecture, and a local victimized businessman.Because there are so many direct victims of the fire involved, the team that submitted the complaint was very powerful, with nearly a hundred people.And this team led more people to participate in the onlookers, forming a crowd of onlookers with three floors inside and three floors outside the government office.
The purpose of Linde's appearance was not just to submit a symbolic complaint, but to make things as big as possible in the public opinion position.So he did not go to the gate of the yamen to hand in the pleadings, but first made a provocative speech to the crowd of onlookers.
"Fathers and elders, Lin De, who lives in Ningbo Prefecture, yesterday a fire broke out at the Tongsheng Wharf outside the city. Most of the more than 20 people who were killed were crew members who worked for him. These people have no bad deeds in the past. In response to this bad report, although both Hangzhou government and Qiantang county government sent people to the scene to investigate the case, they deliberately ignored the many evidences inside and outside the fire scene, and avoided talking about the case! The loss of money is a small matter, but the death of more than [-] innocent people is a serious matter! Hand over this pleading paper today, sue the assailant who murdered for money, sue the police who did not handle the case effectively, and sue the Yamen who covered up the truth! Even if justice and morality cannot be found here, I will use this method to reveal the truth about the fire. Tell the people of the world that they will not die unjustly!"
Lin De's every word pointed to the fact that the Yamen was concealing the truth about the fire, but he deliberately did not explain the so-called truth because he knew that the relevant rumors had spread inside and outside Hangzhou as planned.The more he doesn't make it clear, the more people will think that those rumors are true, and now he deliberately doesn't mention the Haihan camp he backs in order to win more sympathy points first.
Linde's performance obviously received good results, and the people present immediately talked about it, thinking that what happened to Linde was really the result of suppression by unspeakable forces.If there was really a shady scene as he said, the more than 20 victims who died in the fire probably would hardly have a chance to be redressed.
However, in this way, Lin De still has to submit a complaint even though he knows that the lawsuit will be fruitless. This kind of behavior obviously has a tragic meaning, and maybe he will be charged with "rumour-mongering" by the government because of this.And he has made it very clear that this is not to recover the loss of money, but to avenge the innocent people who died unexpectedly, which is very admirable.
The Hangzhou government office obviously would not accept such an unruly complaint, so the government servant took the complaint in and returned it to Lin De, and asked him to leave immediately, so as not to prevent a large number of people from crowding at the door and obstructing the office work.
Being selected by the relevant departments of Haihan to perform this task, Linde's acting ability has undoubtedly gained enough affirmation and trust. Even in the face of being scolded by the government officials, Linde still did not give up and continued to make an infectious play Refined.He stepped up a few steps at a time, stood beside the condescending yamen servant, and shouted at the onlookers: "Everyone has seen it, this is how the government treats victims! No one cares about those innocent people who were killed yesterday." Or, they just want to cover up the truth!"
Linde's accusation immediately received a response from the public, and several accomplices scattered among the onlookers responded one after another, and began to intentionally utter some instructive remarks loudly to incite the public's emotions.
Making trouble at the gate of the Hangzhou government yamen, this kind of behavior must have exceeded the tolerance range of the government, and seeing that the people's emotions became more and more agitated, the yamen quickly took countermeasures, and several people came out and dragged Lin De in. The people below are responsible for dispersing the onlookers.All of a sudden, the leader disappeared, and the spectators quickly dispersed, but the news that "the government office has arrested the sufferer who filed the complaint" spread in the city, causing many people who had suspected the fire case People who were involved with the government confirmed their guesses even more.
Of course, the Fuya Yamen would not be so stupid as to really imprison the sufferer Lin De, they just wanted to use this to disperse the crowd of onlookers and at the same time take the opportunity to beat the ignorant Lin De.Of course, arranging Lin De to come to the yamen to touch porcelain as a bitter master is actually a link in this series of bitter schemes, and there is Wang Yuan in the yamen, even if Lin De is temporarily detained, he will not eat anything in prison deficit.
In fact, Lin De managed to get away after an hour. Neither the magistrate nor the people below were willing to leave this hot potato in the yamen.They also more or less know that the current wind direction outside is very unfavorable to the government, and detaining the sufferer will only make the rumors from the outside world even worse.Now, apart from persuading Linde with good words and hoping that he will not continue to fan the flames, there is no more effective countermeasure for the time being.
Lin De had been instructed a long time ago, so he cooperated very well. Anyway, he was talking nonsense when he saw people, and he continued to spread conspiracy theories after he left the yamen.The more than 20 merchants who also lost a lot of money in the fire were almost all prominent figures in Zhejiang business circles, and many of them had official backgrounds of varying degrees. When these people believed in Linde's statement, they The influence of public opinion in Hangzhou is far greater than Linde's one-man show alone.
These merchants even held a joint banquet in Hangzhou that night, on the one hand to wash away the bad luck for Linde and maintain the existing cooperative relationship between the two parties.On the other hand, it is also to create a platform for him to speak out again, so that he can have the opportunity to make more "inside information" public.For these victims, they still need to make a living under the eyes of the Ming government in Zhejiang, so many people cannot stand up and speak out out of scruples, and they just need an "outsider" like Lin De to stand up for everyone.In addition, as long as the trade relationship with Haihan is maintained, it is not too difficult to earn back this loss in the future. If you do a little charcoal-like gesture of kindness now, you may get a lot of money when you discuss business with Haihan in the future. There are more offers.
While Lin De was spitting and accusing the government of inaction at the banquet, Han Zhengshan, who was investigating the case, was looking very distressed at some new evidence found today.The government officials in charge of clearing the scene of the fire found suspected murder weapons in the wreckage of the ship and the warehouse respectively-two standard waist knives that the Ming army had installed in large quantities.Although this bit of evidence is not enough to prove that the Ming army participated in the murder and arson case, and the method of leaving the murder weapon at the scene of the crime is quite suspected of framing the crime, it is impossible to turn a blind eye to such clear evidence. It must be included in the case report.
If it's just like this, that's all. Another group of people who searched for clues downstream along the Qiantang River reported that in the downstream more than ten miles away from Tongsheng Wharf, someone once witnessed a ship without a flag flying in the early morning after the incident. The Cangshan boat sailed away from the river bank, and there were more than one witnesses, all of whom were local farmers who got up early to work.This is undoubtedly a very important clue. If it belongs to the navy of the Ming army patrolling the river, it must be raising a flag on the mast. The timing of this intentional concealment of identity is a bit too coincidental.
Small warships such as the Cangshan Ship are deployed in various health stations along the Qiantang River to the Hangzhou Bay. If someone from the military is really involved in the crime, Han Zhengshan knows that it will be difficult to track down the case with his own authority. It was handed over to the Jinyiwei Yamen who can search the world and the land.
Han Zhengshan reported the progress of the case to Wang Yuan overnight, and asked whether he should take the initiative to hand over the case, but Wang Yuan asked him to send manpower to the garrison barracks along the river to ask for assistance in the investigation, to find out where the sailing ship without a flag was sent .
This is undoubtedly a very difficult task for the arresters under the government government. The possibility that the military will cooperate with the investigation on this kind of matter is very low, even if there is an official document and warrant issued by the Hangzhou government, it is very difficult.
Han Zhengshan could only boldly make a request: "My lord, can you ask the capital's yamen to issue a joint investigation notice, so that the investigation may be much easier."
Wang Yuan sighed and said, "Why don't I know this truth? It's just that this matter has obviously involved the local garrison. If you want the Dusi Yamen to assist you, you must inform the whole case. What should you do if the news leaks from them? I'm afraid You haven't even left Hangzhou Mansion yet, the news has already spread. You'd better try it yourself, if it doesn't work, then try other methods!"
Seeing that his boss insisted, Han Zhengshan had no choice but to do so.Wanting to investigate the military's patrol attendance information in the name of the Six Doors is indeed against the rules in terms of procedure. If the military doesn't cooperate, Han Zhengshan really won't even let it out.
The next development was exactly as he expected, and all the arrests sent to various guards were turned away.In particular, those guards who already knew about the arson case at Tongsheng Wharf refused to cooperate with the Hangzhou government to investigate the matter, and bluntly said that they could only accept the investigation if the government officials who came to the door showed the official documents of the Zhejiang capital.It wasn't until two days later that the yamen servants who had run into trouble in various places returned to Hangzhou one after another, that Han Zhengshan had no choice but to feed back the information to Wang Yuan again.
For such a situation, Wang Yuan was of course mentally prepared. He asked Han Zhengshan to check the garrison at the guard station, and he didn't plan to gain anything from this way.After all, the mysterious Cangshan ship that appeared on the Qiantang River did not belong to any nearby military camp, but was bought by the Haihan people from a certain place in Taizhou in the south. After the performance, they left Hangzhou Bay with the sailors who had ascended to heaven. , Even if you turn the area around Hangzhou upside down, you will never find that ghost ship.
As a result, the handling of the case was delayed for two days. It was the military that did not cooperate, and it was not on the government's side to pursue the responsibility.And in just a few days, the rumors of the fire at Tongsheng Wharf in Hangzhou have changed from "fire" to "arson". The number of casualties was intentionally reduced, and the actual casualties amounted to more than a hundred.The speculation about the perpetrator's identity and purpose became clearer, and all the evidence found during the investigation pointed to the Ming army.
There are even some rumors that sound very reliable, saying that the commander of the Zhejiang capital who disappeared for no reason in Hangzhou last year was assigned to Haihan by his subordinates and family members. The army carried out the murder and arson.It is also said that it was Ma Yue, the commander of the Haining Guard who died in the sea of Hangzhou Bay last year. He had been in collusion with overseas Japanese pirates for a long time. He was only exposed by Haihan last year. After his identity was revealed, he feigned death to escape. Once, he colluded with the Japanese pirates to raid the Haihan fleet outside Hangzhou to avenge his loss of officialdom.It is also said that Liao Xun, who also disappeared in the middle of last year, was the mastermind behind the arson case. For this reason, he also mobilized dozens of experts from the Jinyiwei South Town Fusi, with the purpose of attacking Haihan and preventing him from resorting to trade means. Enter Zhejiang.
These rumors are all well-founded, and they sound reasonable at first glance, secretly consistent with several incidents that happened along the coast of Zhejiang Province in the past year, and the rumored assailant did have a grudge with Haihan, so he had every motive to do this. A frenzied act.
Of course, the most important point is that the protagonists of these rumors have all disappeared from public view for a long time, and it is impossible to stand up and prove their innocence.With all the scapegoats being blamed on their heads, they won't even have a chance to speak out and defend themselves.
As the saying goes, it is easy to spread rumors, and it is impossible to refute them. In just a few days, rumors have spread inside and outside Hangzhou, and the credibility of the government has also declined sharply.Moreover, rumors began to spread in the market that the Sansi Yamen would punish the merchants who had economic relations with Haihan, which caused the merchants to panic, and some collaborators who were originally on Linde's side also quickly drew a line with him. .Lin De was also a little dumbfounded. The rumors would ferment to such an extent that it should be a situation that the chiefs who planned this matter on Zhoushan Island did not expect.But now that it has reached this level, it is time for the next play to appear.
On the seventh day after the incident at Tongsheng Wharf, Linde once again made a high-profile report to the Hangzhou government office.This time there were many more people watching the excitement than last time, but there were very few people who were willing to stand up for him.The complaint he submitted was returned without any surprise, and the yamen's reply was "the case has been transferred to the procuratorate for investigation", apparently starting to play the game of kicking the ball.
(End of this chapter)
Good things don’t go out and bad things spread thousands of miles away. All kinds of gossip about the fire at Tongsheng Wharf spread throughout Hangzhou City within a day. In addition to the Hangzhou government office in charge of local administration, the Zhejiang Chief Envoy and the Police Department located in the city The three major yamen of the envoy and the commander of the envoy also received rumors one after another.However, these yamen, either out of caution or disdain, did not make timely clarifications on certain "rumors" from the outside world.Whether it was due to bureaucratic style or other reasons, this relatively slow response undoubtedly contributed to the fermentation of the entire incident.
On the second day after the fire broke out, the Hangzhou Government Office received a joint complaint from Lin De, a businessman from Ningbo Prefecture, and a local victimized businessman.Because there are so many direct victims of the fire involved, the team that submitted the complaint was very powerful, with nearly a hundred people.And this team led more people to participate in the onlookers, forming a crowd of onlookers with three floors inside and three floors outside the government office.
The purpose of Linde's appearance was not just to submit a symbolic complaint, but to make things as big as possible in the public opinion position.So he did not go to the gate of the yamen to hand in the pleadings, but first made a provocative speech to the crowd of onlookers.
"Fathers and elders, Lin De, who lives in Ningbo Prefecture, yesterday a fire broke out at the Tongsheng Wharf outside the city. Most of the more than 20 people who were killed were crew members who worked for him. These people have no bad deeds in the past. In response to this bad report, although both Hangzhou government and Qiantang county government sent people to the scene to investigate the case, they deliberately ignored the many evidences inside and outside the fire scene, and avoided talking about the case! The loss of money is a small matter, but the death of more than [-] innocent people is a serious matter! Hand over this pleading paper today, sue the assailant who murdered for money, sue the police who did not handle the case effectively, and sue the Yamen who covered up the truth! Even if justice and morality cannot be found here, I will use this method to reveal the truth about the fire. Tell the people of the world that they will not die unjustly!"
Lin De's every word pointed to the fact that the Yamen was concealing the truth about the fire, but he deliberately did not explain the so-called truth because he knew that the relevant rumors had spread inside and outside Hangzhou as planned.The more he doesn't make it clear, the more people will think that those rumors are true, and now he deliberately doesn't mention the Haihan camp he backs in order to win more sympathy points first.
Linde's performance obviously received good results, and the people present immediately talked about it, thinking that what happened to Linde was really the result of suppression by unspeakable forces.If there was really a shady scene as he said, the more than 20 victims who died in the fire probably would hardly have a chance to be redressed.
However, in this way, Lin De still has to submit a complaint even though he knows that the lawsuit will be fruitless. This kind of behavior obviously has a tragic meaning, and maybe he will be charged with "rumour-mongering" by the government because of this.And he has made it very clear that this is not to recover the loss of money, but to avenge the innocent people who died unexpectedly, which is very admirable.
The Hangzhou government office obviously would not accept such an unruly complaint, so the government servant took the complaint in and returned it to Lin De, and asked him to leave immediately, so as not to prevent a large number of people from crowding at the door and obstructing the office work.
Being selected by the relevant departments of Haihan to perform this task, Linde's acting ability has undoubtedly gained enough affirmation and trust. Even in the face of being scolded by the government officials, Linde still did not give up and continued to make an infectious play Refined.He stepped up a few steps at a time, stood beside the condescending yamen servant, and shouted at the onlookers: "Everyone has seen it, this is how the government treats victims! No one cares about those innocent people who were killed yesterday." Or, they just want to cover up the truth!"
Linde's accusation immediately received a response from the public, and several accomplices scattered among the onlookers responded one after another, and began to intentionally utter some instructive remarks loudly to incite the public's emotions.
Making trouble at the gate of the Hangzhou government yamen, this kind of behavior must have exceeded the tolerance range of the government, and seeing that the people's emotions became more and more agitated, the yamen quickly took countermeasures, and several people came out and dragged Lin De in. The people below are responsible for dispersing the onlookers.All of a sudden, the leader disappeared, and the spectators quickly dispersed, but the news that "the government office has arrested the sufferer who filed the complaint" spread in the city, causing many people who had suspected the fire case People who were involved with the government confirmed their guesses even more.
Of course, the Fuya Yamen would not be so stupid as to really imprison the sufferer Lin De, they just wanted to use this to disperse the crowd of onlookers and at the same time take the opportunity to beat the ignorant Lin De.Of course, arranging Lin De to come to the yamen to touch porcelain as a bitter master is actually a link in this series of bitter schemes, and there is Wang Yuan in the yamen, even if Lin De is temporarily detained, he will not eat anything in prison deficit.
In fact, Lin De managed to get away after an hour. Neither the magistrate nor the people below were willing to leave this hot potato in the yamen.They also more or less know that the current wind direction outside is very unfavorable to the government, and detaining the sufferer will only make the rumors from the outside world even worse.Now, apart from persuading Linde with good words and hoping that he will not continue to fan the flames, there is no more effective countermeasure for the time being.
Lin De had been instructed a long time ago, so he cooperated very well. Anyway, he was talking nonsense when he saw people, and he continued to spread conspiracy theories after he left the yamen.The more than 20 merchants who also lost a lot of money in the fire were almost all prominent figures in Zhejiang business circles, and many of them had official backgrounds of varying degrees. When these people believed in Linde's statement, they The influence of public opinion in Hangzhou is far greater than Linde's one-man show alone.
These merchants even held a joint banquet in Hangzhou that night, on the one hand to wash away the bad luck for Linde and maintain the existing cooperative relationship between the two parties.On the other hand, it is also to create a platform for him to speak out again, so that he can have the opportunity to make more "inside information" public.For these victims, they still need to make a living under the eyes of the Ming government in Zhejiang, so many people cannot stand up and speak out out of scruples, and they just need an "outsider" like Lin De to stand up for everyone.In addition, as long as the trade relationship with Haihan is maintained, it is not too difficult to earn back this loss in the future. If you do a little charcoal-like gesture of kindness now, you may get a lot of money when you discuss business with Haihan in the future. There are more offers.
While Lin De was spitting and accusing the government of inaction at the banquet, Han Zhengshan, who was investigating the case, was looking very distressed at some new evidence found today.The government officials in charge of clearing the scene of the fire found suspected murder weapons in the wreckage of the ship and the warehouse respectively-two standard waist knives that the Ming army had installed in large quantities.Although this bit of evidence is not enough to prove that the Ming army participated in the murder and arson case, and the method of leaving the murder weapon at the scene of the crime is quite suspected of framing the crime, it is impossible to turn a blind eye to such clear evidence. It must be included in the case report.
If it's just like this, that's all. Another group of people who searched for clues downstream along the Qiantang River reported that in the downstream more than ten miles away from Tongsheng Wharf, someone once witnessed a ship without a flag flying in the early morning after the incident. The Cangshan boat sailed away from the river bank, and there were more than one witnesses, all of whom were local farmers who got up early to work.This is undoubtedly a very important clue. If it belongs to the navy of the Ming army patrolling the river, it must be raising a flag on the mast. The timing of this intentional concealment of identity is a bit too coincidental.
Small warships such as the Cangshan Ship are deployed in various health stations along the Qiantang River to the Hangzhou Bay. If someone from the military is really involved in the crime, Han Zhengshan knows that it will be difficult to track down the case with his own authority. It was handed over to the Jinyiwei Yamen who can search the world and the land.
Han Zhengshan reported the progress of the case to Wang Yuan overnight, and asked whether he should take the initiative to hand over the case, but Wang Yuan asked him to send manpower to the garrison barracks along the river to ask for assistance in the investigation, to find out where the sailing ship without a flag was sent .
This is undoubtedly a very difficult task for the arresters under the government government. The possibility that the military will cooperate with the investigation on this kind of matter is very low, even if there is an official document and warrant issued by the Hangzhou government, it is very difficult.
Han Zhengshan could only boldly make a request: "My lord, can you ask the capital's yamen to issue a joint investigation notice, so that the investigation may be much easier."
Wang Yuan sighed and said, "Why don't I know this truth? It's just that this matter has obviously involved the local garrison. If you want the Dusi Yamen to assist you, you must inform the whole case. What should you do if the news leaks from them? I'm afraid You haven't even left Hangzhou Mansion yet, the news has already spread. You'd better try it yourself, if it doesn't work, then try other methods!"
Seeing that his boss insisted, Han Zhengshan had no choice but to do so.Wanting to investigate the military's patrol attendance information in the name of the Six Doors is indeed against the rules in terms of procedure. If the military doesn't cooperate, Han Zhengshan really won't even let it out.
The next development was exactly as he expected, and all the arrests sent to various guards were turned away.In particular, those guards who already knew about the arson case at Tongsheng Wharf refused to cooperate with the Hangzhou government to investigate the matter, and bluntly said that they could only accept the investigation if the government officials who came to the door showed the official documents of the Zhejiang capital.It wasn't until two days later that the yamen servants who had run into trouble in various places returned to Hangzhou one after another, that Han Zhengshan had no choice but to feed back the information to Wang Yuan again.
For such a situation, Wang Yuan was of course mentally prepared. He asked Han Zhengshan to check the garrison at the guard station, and he didn't plan to gain anything from this way.After all, the mysterious Cangshan ship that appeared on the Qiantang River did not belong to any nearby military camp, but was bought by the Haihan people from a certain place in Taizhou in the south. After the performance, they left Hangzhou Bay with the sailors who had ascended to heaven. , Even if you turn the area around Hangzhou upside down, you will never find that ghost ship.
As a result, the handling of the case was delayed for two days. It was the military that did not cooperate, and it was not on the government's side to pursue the responsibility.And in just a few days, the rumors of the fire at Tongsheng Wharf in Hangzhou have changed from "fire" to "arson". The number of casualties was intentionally reduced, and the actual casualties amounted to more than a hundred.The speculation about the perpetrator's identity and purpose became clearer, and all the evidence found during the investigation pointed to the Ming army.
There are even some rumors that sound very reliable, saying that the commander of the Zhejiang capital who disappeared for no reason in Hangzhou last year was assigned to Haihan by his subordinates and family members. The army carried out the murder and arson.It is also said that it was Ma Yue, the commander of the Haining Guard who died in the sea of Hangzhou Bay last year. He had been in collusion with overseas Japanese pirates for a long time. He was only exposed by Haihan last year. After his identity was revealed, he feigned death to escape. Once, he colluded with the Japanese pirates to raid the Haihan fleet outside Hangzhou to avenge his loss of officialdom.It is also said that Liao Xun, who also disappeared in the middle of last year, was the mastermind behind the arson case. For this reason, he also mobilized dozens of experts from the Jinyiwei South Town Fusi, with the purpose of attacking Haihan and preventing him from resorting to trade means. Enter Zhejiang.
These rumors are all well-founded, and they sound reasonable at first glance, secretly consistent with several incidents that happened along the coast of Zhejiang Province in the past year, and the rumored assailant did have a grudge with Haihan, so he had every motive to do this. A frenzied act.
Of course, the most important point is that the protagonists of these rumors have all disappeared from public view for a long time, and it is impossible to stand up and prove their innocence.With all the scapegoats being blamed on their heads, they won't even have a chance to speak out and defend themselves.
As the saying goes, it is easy to spread rumors, and it is impossible to refute them. In just a few days, rumors have spread inside and outside Hangzhou, and the credibility of the government has also declined sharply.Moreover, rumors began to spread in the market that the Sansi Yamen would punish the merchants who had economic relations with Haihan, which caused the merchants to panic, and some collaborators who were originally on Linde's side also quickly drew a line with him. .Lin De was also a little dumbfounded. The rumors would ferment to such an extent that it should be a situation that the chiefs who planned this matter on Zhoushan Island did not expect.But now that it has reached this level, it is time for the next play to appear.
On the seventh day after the incident at Tongsheng Wharf, Linde once again made a high-profile report to the Hangzhou government office.This time there were many more people watching the excitement than last time, but there were very few people who were willing to stand up for him.The complaint he submitted was returned without any surprise, and the yamen's reply was "the case has been transferred to the procuratorate for investigation", apparently starting to play the game of kicking the ball.
(End of this chapter)