This group of refugees were able to brave the dangers and travel thousands of miles to Beijing to file a complaint, which certainly meant that they had more than just a mouth.
They also had tax notices torn from the wall and tax ledgers from previous years stolen from the county government office in the fiefdom of Marquis Dingyuan.
According to the refugees, this year's taxes are one point higher than last year and the year before. Even if they pay all the harvest from their fields, they still cannot pay the taxes.
"Everyone said they couldn't afford the tax, but the county magistrate said the marquis wanted this much, not a penny less, and if it was less, he would pay it with his own people."
At this point, the leading refugee was already in tears:
"First, the young girls in the village were taken away by the county magistrate, and later the young and strong men were also taken away. We felt that we couldn't go on like this, so we stole the account book and begged along the way to the capital. Now that we have met the adults and told them our grievances, it is worth it even if we die."
The other refugees all kowtowed loudly, with a look on their faces that showed they had no regrets in dying. Their skinny bodies, like monkeys, made people feel very sad when they saw them.
The guard took the account book and handed it to the lord's desk. The lord took it and took a quick look at it, and an angry look appeared on his face.
This tax is so heavy that it is shocking!
The master slammed the gavel and shouted, "Marquis Dingyuan, now that we have all the evidence, do you admit your guilt?"
As early as when he saw the notice, Marquis Dingyuan knew that he was powerless to save the situation. After seeing the thick stack of account books, he lost the strength to struggle.
My Lord, My Lord, how can it be so easy to be a Lord
The fiefdom has private soldiers that have been raised for generations and need to be supported, while the capital is too large and difficult to live in.
The emperor always wanted to reduce the power of the vassal states. If he didn't have some money, how could he have so many people working for him? How could he have asked those close ministers to speak well of him
Add to that the daily social engagements, personal relationships, and the trouble-making Wen Pengfei, and the money just kept flowing out.
If he touched the things passed down by his ancestors, it would seem that he was incompetent and the only thing he could consider was the taxes on his fiefdom.
However, Marquis Dingyuan was not aware that the taxes on the fiefdom had become so heavy that even the common people could barely survive.
He didn't have the time to care about these trivial matters. As long as he could get the money from below, he didn't care where the money came from.
Marquis Dingyuan closed his eyes with mixed feelings and had nothing to say.
Seeing this, the adult gritted his teeth and asked, "Since you have nothing to say, do you admit your guilt?"
If a prince levies taxes on his fiefdom that exceed the regulations of the imperial court, it is considered a serious crime of corruption and abuse of power that harms the people's livelihood. According to the laws of this country, this crime is enough to execute three generations of the family (parents, oneself, and children).
In addition, he exchanged a daughter for a son and confused the bloodline to inherit the title, which can be regarded as a crime of deceiving the emperor.
No matter what, Marquis Dingyuan was finished, completely finished.
Marquis Dingyuan didn't want to admit it, but he had no way to argue.
However, since this matter concerns the fiefdom of the king, even the adults on the stage cannot make the decision. They can only order the guards to put him in jail and report to the emperor before making a decision.
Also taken to jail at the same time were Wen Pengfei, Liu Shangzhi, and Chen Xiucai and his wife.
The reason was that Wen Pengfei had been the crown prince for more than 20 years and was suspected of hiring someone to kill someone. Liu Shangzhi, as the confidant of Marquis Dingyuan, helped Marquis Dingyuan do all the bad things. Chen Xiucai and his wife were also well aware of the child swap and could be considered accomplices. When Wen Pengfei learned that Marquis Dingyuan was guilty of killing three clans, he was so scared that he wet his pants and kept pointing at Mingyue and yelling, "Don't catch me, you can't catch me, I'm not Marquis Dingyuan's biological son, you can catch her, she is Marquis Dingyuan's biological daughter."
When Marquis Dingyuan saw him like this, he immediately felt disgusted.
It is true that like fathers, like sons, like daughters. Even though he had personally raised Wen Pengfei for more than 20 years, the son of that down-and-out scholar was still a hopeless person who was not worthy of being on the stage.
On the contrary, Marquis Dingyuan looked at the calm and composed Mingyue. It was his despised daughter who knew how to keep a low profile when she was in the countryside, but immediately became dazzling after leaving the countryside. She even dared to sue her own father. She was cruel, which was like him.
It’s a pity that it’s a daughter.
Even at this moment, Marquis Dingyuan still did not think that he was wrong to change his son. He just thought that he had not chosen the right seed!
Mingyue quietly watched Wen Pengfei's futile struggle. Not to mention that it was 'she' who saved these refugees, she had already sacrificed her own family for the greater good.
Just say that she has never enjoyed any power from the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, and instead suffered persecution from the mansion. So it is definitely not her turn to go to jail.
As expected, Mingyue didn't even need to say anything before the people in the audience started cursing Wen Pengfei for being shameless, and the adults on the stage even asked people to drag him away quickly.
When Mr. and Mrs. Chen looked at Wen Pengfei's fate and Mingyue, who was no longer the same as before, they subconsciously chose to protect themselves.
"Mingyue, I am your mother. Have you forgotten that I raised you to this age? I don't know anything about the child swap. Tell them to let me go."
"Yes, Dad doesn't know either. Dad was deceived. You are my only daughter. Dad doesn't recognize any other daughter. Mingyue, please ask the adults to forgive Dad."
The two of them played the emotional card and begged Mingyue to forgive them.
At this moment, their faces showed true feelings, but it was a pity that the original owner who truly cared about their feelings was no longer around.
And what they did to the original owner does not deserve to be forgiven.
When the Marquis' wife saw them calling Mingyue like this, she immediately frowned and said, "Who the hell are you? How dare you call yourselves Mingyue's parents? Mingyue is my daughter and has nothing to do with you."
Mingyue looked at her protecting the food and a smile appeared on her face.
There are still relatives in this world who truly care about the original owner. She and they are worthy of Mingyue's protection.
The adults on the stage did not want to continue this farce, so they waved their hands and asked the guards to take the person away. If they continued to shout, they would be gagged and dragged away.
After the lord settled the refugees, he ordered people to drive the Zhou family away. Only Madam Hou and Mingyue and her daughter were left in the court.
This is also the difficulty for adults.
Now that Marquis Dingyuan and his wife have not divorced, they are still husband and wife. She is also implicated in the crimes of corruption and abuse of power committed by Marquis Dingyuan, and should be imprisoned.
But let’s not mention that the Minister of Revenue and Yun Yu’an who are eyeing them covetously, even Mingyue is Prince Chen’s right-hand man, so it’s not easy to touch this Marquis’ wife, we can’t touch her!
But there were so many people watching below the stage, and the Lord could not bend the law for personal gain. In the end, he avoided the gazes of the Yun family father and son, and still asked people to invite the Marquis's wife to the prison, but privately told the guards to be respectful to her.
As for the rest, it depends on what His Majesty decides!
(End of this chapter)