Upon hearing this, the guard immediately brought the man to Wei Zhan.
Wei Zhan was sitting on a chair at the entrance of the county government office and asked, "Tell me, who are they?"
The ragged man clasped his fists and said, "Sir, some of them are servants of Mr. Zhang from our village, and two are relatives of Mr. Zhang's son-in-law. I don't know the rest."
Wei Zhan looked at the man: "Where are you from? Why do you know them?"
The ragged man said with hatred: "I was originally from the same hometown as Mr. Zhang. Later, my family's land was taken away by Mr. Zhang's family, and my father was also killed by Mr. Zhang. Since then, I have been begging in the county town for a living, so I remember everyone in Mr. Zhang's family clearly."
Wei Zhan was silent. When he looked up, he saw his wife coming towards him surrounded by a group of people.
"Why are you here?" Wei Zhan quickly stood up and stood in front of his wife.
Yingbao looked him over and asked, "Why are you sitting outside?"
Wei Zhan smiled and said, "The county magistrate said he was ill and couldn't come out, so I had to sit outside."
Yingbao looked around and said, "In that case, let's set up a court outside the county government office and try this assassination case ourselves!"
After saying that, he invited Song Changshi and other officials from the Princess's Mansion.
Then someone brought a long table and placed it in front of the county government office.
Dozens of guards were lined up on both sides. Ying Bao and Wei Zhan were sitting at the desk. Behind them were palace maids holding screen fans, eunuchs holding a canopy, and the ceremonial guard.
A eunuch screamed, "The princess is here to judge the case. If you have any grievances, you can submit a complaint and the princess will make the decision for you. Today we are trying a murder case. There is a witness. Does anyone know the assassin on the ground? Come and tell us."
There was a pause, and just as several living assassins were dragged over, two more people stepped forward and said they knew these people.
"I know them! They are the tenants of Mr. Zhang's family!" One person shouted, "They often follow Mr. Zhang to do evil things. God has finally seen through them and is going to take them away!"
Another person said, "Yes, yes! They are the thugs of Mr. Zhang's family. Anyone who dares not to obey will be harmed by them!"
Ying Bao looked at Song Changshi and said, "Song Changshi, record their statements and put their fingerprints on them."
This time, Song Changshi said nothing. He asked the servant to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and started writing himself.
As more and more witnesses came forward, Yingbao not only listened to their accusations against Mr. Zhang, but also guided them to state who was close to Mr. Zhang's family and whether there was any evidence of collusion or joint crime.
Then several people said that Mr. Zhang's family was in the grain business, and he owned the largest grain shop in the county. He used a large measure to buy grain and a small measure to sell grain. If others were dissatisfied, he would send his servants to beat them.
Some people also said that Mr. Zhang had many concubines, and he often gave them to officials as concubines. One of the concubines was carried into the backyard of the county government office half a year ago.
No wonder!
Ying Bao and Wei Zhan looked at each other, and then gave an order: arrest Mr. Zhang and his family.
The criminals were arrested this time by guards from the Princess's Mansion, about 200 in total, and they went straight to Mr. Zhang's residence in the county town.
All the men in Mr. Zhang's family in the county town were arrested, and his front door was also sealed.
On the second day, the guards went out of the city, arrested all the men of the Zhang family in the countryside, and threw them into the county prison.
At this time, Meixian Magistrate Fang appeared and explained to Wei Zhan that he was indeed sick and bedridden, and it was not intentional that he did not show up.
The Mei County Magistrate bowed to Wei Zhan and said, "General, please hand over the Zhang family's case to me. I will definitely handle it carefully."
Wei Zhan glanced at him calmly and said, "I have already reported Mr. Zhang's assassination attempt to the court. I believe the court will send someone here soon. I won't bother the Mei County Magistrate to intervene."
The Mei County Magistrate was nervous when he heard this and said, "How can that be possible? I am the parent official of this county. The general is stepping into other people's business..."
Wei Zhan snorted coldly: "You? Are you qualified to be the chief official of Zhouhe County?"
Then he ordered his attendants: "Go to the inner courtyard of the county government and arrest the criminal who is hiding!"
If his guess was correct, the long-lost Mr. Zhang should be hiding in the courtyard of the county government office at this moment.
"Yes!" The guards took the order and rushed into the inner courtyard of the county government office, where they found two men and one woman.
Among the two men, one was in his fifties with a gray beard, and it was Mr. Zhang.
The other young man, about twenty years old, with a fair complexion and no beard, was Mr. Zhang’s biological son.
As for the girl, she was the concubine whom Mr. Zhang gave to the magistrate of Mei County as a concubine.
When the magistrate of Mei County saw that Wei Zhan suddenly sent people to break into his residence to search for people, he knew that something was wrong. He dared not say a word and wished he could shrink into a quail that no one cared about.
Mr. Zhang was dragged out and beaten with a stick before being pulled over for questioning.
Wei Zhan sat behind the desk and slammed the gavel: "Zhang Jin! Tell us the truth about hiring someone to kill you! Who ordered you to do this? What was your purpose?"
Zhang Jin refused to speak at first, but after being beaten with a stick, he confessed obediently.
In fact, in the last assassination attempt, there were three wealthy families involved. They all sent archers, a total of sixty or seventy people, but they were dispersed as soon as they met.
It was the first time for that group of people to assassinate a high-ranking official of the imperial court, and they were somewhat guilty. Many of them fled when they saw the situation was not good, and no matter how Zhang Jin's son called them, they refused to turn back, which led to the current situation.
After listening to the confessions of Zhang Jin and others, Wei Zhan thought to himself: Well, the county jail is almost full.
But even if there is not enough space, you have to install it, and not a single one can be left behind.
Until the end of summer harvest, the assassination case of Zhang Jin and three local gentry finally came to an end.
Several masterminds were sentenced to death with reprieve, accomplices were sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane and exile 3,000 miles away, and all family property of all participants was confiscated, and family members over the age of three were sold into slavery.
The verdict was approved by the emperor himself, who convicted him of treason. The severity of the punishment attracted the attention of many officials.
In addition, the magistrate of Zhouhe County was dismissed from his post and brought to the capital to await trial.
From then on, the officials and gentry of Zhouhe County kept silent and dared not have any evil thoughts.
Yingbao took the opportunity to transfer the more than 40 temporary officers into regular positions, making them his right-hand men.
Time flies, and two years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Today, people in Zhouhe County are like those in Qinchuan County, with 20% of households growing mushrooms and 60% of farmers having an efficient loom at home.
Almost all farmers in the county planted varying amounts of cotton, sesame, pepper and other crops, and people's lives are getting better day by day.
Those farmers who had fled their fields also returned one after another and settled down in their hometowns.
The young man is now sixteen years old, a young boy, working as a clerk in the county government office, writing and copying every day. After work, he returns to live in the princess's mansion.
Wuyang is already over three years old and has a chubby figure. He spends all day with Wei Fanzhi and Jiang Bao. The three of them are inseparable, even eating and sleeping together.
On this day, a group of people suddenly came to the outside of the princess's mansion, led by the eldest son of the Lu family and an official who delivered the imperial edict.