If that store really was secretly supplying food to those people who were quarrying stones illegally, it would mean that he came to Cangzhou not just to monopolize the business here and make a profit, but had other intentions.
"Maybe those people were deceived by the people of Datong Commercial Bank." Jiang Miao said. Judging from the confessions of these people, they clearly fell into a trap that had been laid long ago. Just like modern pyramid schemes, they first attract you with sweet words and various tempting conditions, and then reveal their true colors once you come. Such a scam would fool some educated people in modern times, not to mention the simple people in ancient times who had not received education.
"It's probably them."
While the two were talking, Mr. Tan had already looked over all the stones that had been mined. He asked, "When can we go back?"
"Mr. Tan, can you tell what kind of stone this is?" Jiang Miao asked.
"We need to go back and experiment before we can draw a conclusion." Mr. Tan is obviously a talent in science and engineering. Even if he is 80% sure in his heart, he will not give a conclusion before getting the results.
"Then I'll take you back now." Jiang Miao also wanted to get an answer quickly.
Pei Che said: "Wait a moment, I will go back with you after I have arranged things here."
He called the two officials and ordered one of them to continue interrogating the guards captured yesterday, suggesting that they should be defeated one by one. He didn't believe that so many people could be so stubborn. Then, he ordered the other one to ask the quarry workers who were deceived to see if they still remembered the people who tricked them here, and to count the amount of stones produced by all the quarries here.
After explaining these things, Pei Che took his men and returned with Jiang Miao.
On the way, Mr. Tan was studying the stones at hand. Jiang Miao weighed each one and felt that they were all quite heavy.
"This should be ore, right? Ordinary stones don't seem to be this heavy."
"It's possible, but I don't know what kind of mine it is."
"Does the sentencing vary for different mines?" Jiang Miao was a little curious.
"According to Daliang's laws, if it was just ordinary quarrying, these people did not report to the government and mined stones privately, all the participants' property would be confiscated, and they would be beaten with a hundred sticks and sentenced to ten years in prison. However, if the mining time is particularly long like here, the punishment will be increased as appropriate."
"If it is an iron, copper, tin or lead ore, and if you quarry and refine it privately without reporting it to the government, all those involved within three clans will be killed without mercy. All those within nine clans will be exiled a thousand miles away."
"If it is a gold or silver mine, all the nine clans involved will be killed."
As soon as Pei Che mentioned the sentencing standards, Jiang Miao fell silent. At this moment, he realized very deeply that he was now living in an era where imperial power was supreme and people's lives could be taken away easily. However, he also understood that the court attached great importance to the two items of salt and iron. If someone took action on these, it would be tantamount to touching the foundation of the country, which was no different from rebellion.
"Are those people who were deceived considered participants?" Jiang Miao's tone was a little heavy.
Pei Che shook his head: "They were detained here by someone and did not mine stones of their own accord, so how can they be considered participants? However, the guards, knowing that this was an illegal act, still assisted the tyrant, so they should be guilty of the same crime."
Jiang Miao sighed. Now it depends on what kind of mines these are.
"I have already submitted the memorial. The prefect of Chengtian should be here soon. I just need to report the matter. Whether it is sentencing or other matters, it will be handled by the people above." Pei Che said. He was just a small prefect. When it came to such a big case, this was all he could do.
After entering the city, Jiang Miao and Old Tan continued to move forward to test the properties of the stone, while Pei Che led his men straight to Datong Grain Store.
When they arrived, Datong Grain Store was the same as before, with the door tightly closed, looking like a closed store. But if you look closely, you will find that every corner is very clean, and it is obviously not unattended.
Pei Che ordered the runners to block the front and back doors together, ensuring that not even a fly could fly out of the Datong Grain Store. It was morning, and the people saw the government making such a big move, and they all stood not far away curiously, wanting to see what the Datong Grain Store had done wrong.
Speaking of the Datong grain store, the people of Cangzhou only hated it. If it had not been closed early, the store would have been smashed by these people. Now that it was surrounded by the government, everyone felt happy.
"Where is the manager of Datong Grain Store?" A yamen runner with a loud voice asked three times but no one answered.
Pei Che called him over and whispered a few words to him. The yamen runner nodded, then stood in front of the store and said loudly, "If the manager doesn't show up before this evening, the government will immediately seal up the Datong Grain Store and confiscate all the supplies inside!"
He repeated this three times to ensure that everyone nearby could hear it. Then they retreated to the front of the store and guarded it, not letting anyone approach.
Pei Che returned to the government office. It should have been lunch time, but the government office was packed with people. When they saw Pei Che, they immediately swarmed forward and asked in unison, "Master Pei, where were you yesterday?"
"Master Pei, I heard that there is a major case in the suburbs of Cangzhou. Why don't you order your subordinates to handle it?"
"Master Pei, we are willing to share your worries."
Their enthusiastic look made people feel uncomfortable, but Pei Che also knew that they were like this now because they felt that they had suffered a loss in Cangzhou Green last time. They were not optimistic about the tea mountain before, and were unwilling to take over when Pei Che assigned the task. In the end, he and Jiang Miao had to take care of it themselves. Later, when the tea was sold and the money came, they did not participate. They could only watch Pei Che decide where the money would go, which made people sigh with regret.
Now that they have heard the news, how can they resist not getting a piece of the pie?
Pei Che was not a dictator, and it was better for more people to share the responsibility than for him to keep the secret alone. In fact, even if the higher-ups wanted to hold them accountable for their negligence over the years, he, who had been in office for less than a year, would not be held responsible. On the other hand, these people were deceived and lost face for the court last time, and this time they were responsible for negligence. It was unknown whether they could keep their official positions. Let's give them a chance to atone for their mistakes!
Pei Che smiled and invited them to his study, where he told everyone what he had been investigating and the secrets he had discovered. The officials were surprised at first, then dumbfounded, and finally looked as if they had lost their parents. Their expressions changed as quickly as those of Sichuan opera actors.
If they knew that these innocent disappearances would eventually turn into such a situation, they would have ordered a thorough investigation, even if they had to turn the mountains outside Cangzhou upside down, and would not have let those people come here to cause trouble. Unfortunately, the incident has already happened and there is no regret medicine to take.
Just when they were extremely sad, Pei Che told them about the Datong Grain Store. This time, they were even more depressed, like eggplants hit by frost. After eating cheap grain for so many years, no one would believe that they had no relationship with the Datong Grain Store. Although they had almost no contact with the store since it closed, if the Datong Grain Store was the driving force behind the illegal quarrying, then they were finished.
"Please, Master Pei, show us a clear way!" Pairs of expectant eyes looked at Pei Che.
Pei Che said: "The best way at the moment is for everyone to work together to handle the case properly. Then we can use our merits to atone for our crimes, and maybe even ask the emperor to show some leniency."
The officials below looked at each other in bewilderment. They had no choice but to do as they were told.
After seeing these people off, Pei Che also got up and headed home. Their family was having dinner now. Little Shitou and Pei Mu were not picky eaters. In the past few months, they had grown rapidly like bamboo shoots in spring. After not seeing them for only a few days, Pei Che felt that they seemed to have grown taller.
The two were also very happy to see Pei Che. After chatting for a while, they reluctantly went back to their room for a nap at Jiang Miao's suggestion.
"How's Mr. Tan doing?"
Jiang Miao said: "He's still working on it. He probably wants to refine the stone himself to see what he can get out of it."
"He can refine stones?"
"Of course, he has worked in the mine for so long. As long as he has all the tools, refining stones is nothing." Jiang Miao had an expression that showed he was ignorant. "If I hadn't heard Aunt Zhang mention it before, I would have never found such a capable person in a short time." Jiang Miao still liked to listen to the neighbors talking about some family matters, just like he did when he was in the Bai family yard.
Pei Che couldn't help but smile when he saw his proud look: "Yes, thanks to your help."
"That's good to know," Jiang Miao ignored his teasing, "Eat quickly, and come over to take a look after you finish eating."
Pei Che quickened his pace and finished eating quickly. Jiang Miao took him to a small courtyard. As soon as he stepped in, he saw a thick smoke floating in the sky. Going further inside, he smelled a pungent smell that made people's faces turn pale.
Mr. Tan must have anticipated what would happen. His face was covered with a thick cloth, revealing only his eyes that were closely watching the reaction of the things in front of him. When the stone pot in front of him was boiling violently, he immediately picked up the stone pot with tweezers, cooled the things inside, and poured the refined things on the paper.
Jiang Miao said he didn't recognize the black powder in front of him, until Mr. Tan revealed the answer, he realized that it was iron powder mixed with other substances. This thing is put into the furnace and burned into molten iron at high temperature, which becomes pig iron. Pig iron is repeatedly calcined and hammered, and then it can be turned into the ironware they use every day.
"I didn't expect that Cangzhou has such a large iron mine." Pei Che sighed. Cangzhou has always been poor, and he didn't expect that the real treasure was actually underground.
"Yes, they are mining iron ore!" Although Jiang Miao had guessed that it was ore before, he was still quite surprised after confirming it. Mining iron ore without permission is a much more serious crime than mining stone without permission.
Pei Che ordered his men to collect the items here as evidence, and to present them one by one to the prefect of Chengtian when he came.
It was already afternoon. When Pei Che just walked out of the gate and prepared to go back to the government office to do his work, he saw a government official coming towards him with an excited look on his face.
"Sir, we've found the manager of the Datong Grain Store!"
"Oh? Did he turn himself in?" Pei Che asked.
The yamen runner said, "No, he was caught at home. Someone just handed over a letter with his address and a message saying that this is the place to go if you want to find him. When we got there, Manager Zhu was in disguise, probably trying to escape the government's pursuit."
This manager was replaced just a few days before Datong Grain Store closed down. The people were familiar with the previous manager, otherwise they would have brought the government to arrest him long ago.
"Take him back to the yamen. I will interrogate him thoroughly."
"yes."
Pei Che rushed back to the government office and asked people to come to the court. Soon, Manager Zhu was brought to the hall. Facing everyone, he shouted in a timid tone: "What are you doing? Can the government arrest people at will? I didn't do anything, why do you arrest me?"
Pei Che said: "If you didn't do anything, why did you disguise yourself to hide from others? If you are innocent, why didn't you take the initiative to come forward and find out the truth when the government wanted to see the grain store manager?"
"I... I am..." The man stammered and was unable to speak. When the government surrounded the grain store today, the people he sent to follow were hiding among the people. When he heard that the government was looking for him, he was terrified, thinking that the government was going to investigate what happened before. At that time, the first thought that popped into his mind was to escape. But before he could dress up, the government had broken into the store and caught him.
"I know that you are just a manager of the Datong Grain Store. You probably don't know much about what they did. How about this, you tell me everything you know, and I can give you a lighter punishment then."
Facing the temptation in Pei Che's words, Manager Zhu said with a sad face, "My Lord, I really don't know what to say. I have only been the manager for half a year, and the shop has been closed for most of the past six months. I haven't made much business. If you want to know something, why not ask me directly? I will tell you everything I know."
Pei Che was naturally happy to see him cooperate, and asked directly: "Do you know that there is a large group of people living under the cliff of Yangshupo?"
This question had nothing to do with business. Manager Zhu was stunned for a moment before he said, "Yangshupo? Isn't that place haunted? How could someone live down there?"
His surprise didn't seem fake, and he seemed to be really unaware. But as a manager, how could he not know that so much food was missing from the shop? Pei Che felt that he was lying.
"If you didn't know there were people living down there, how could you have asked the men to carry food down to them?"
"Your Excellency, I have never told my men to deliver any food to them! Since the closure of the shop, except for occasionally delivering some rice and flour to maintain relations, the rest has never been moved. It is all stored in the warehouse."
He said this with a confident look on his face, and Pei Che was a little confused for a moment. Could it be that the food for those people under the cliff really came from somewhere else? But this was impossible!
"Come on, take out the things and show them to him!"
Soon, a yamen runner took out a few sacks from the back and placed them in front of Manager Zhu. Manager Zhu picked up a sack and took a look at it, his face changed. This sack was specially used by their Datong Grain Shop.
"Sir, this bag is indeed from Datong Grain Shop, but I have never dealt with the people at the bottom of the cliff, let alone sold rice and flour to them!"
"You keep saying that you don't do business with them, but the sacks found in the search are definitely fake. Could it be that someone is secretly doing business with them without your knowledge? Is someone secretly shipping the rice and flour to them?"
Manager Zhu denied it directly: "Impossible, I am the only one who has the key to this warehouse, how could anyone sell the things without me?"
"Are you sure no one can transport the stuff out?"
Manager Zhu hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm sure those warehouses are equipped with two locks. I went to check the day before yesterday and there was no sign of picking the locks."
The matter came to a stalemate here. Manager Zhu did not seem to be lying, but the people at the bottom of the cliff were indeed eating food shipped from Datong Grain Store. In fact, it was easy to find out the truth. All you had to do was open the warehouse and check if there was any shortage of food.
Pei Che asked Manager Zhu about the grain in the warehouse, and then asked someone to take the key to the warehouse to count it. After two quarters of an hour, the runners came back to report that the numbers were much less than what Manager Zhu said.
"It seems that you won't cry until you see the coffin. The facts are in front of you, what else do you have to say?"
Manager Zhu looked confused and shook his head, saying, "Impossible, impossible, how could there be less?" As he was thinking, he suddenly had an idea and said, "Sir, I understand!"
"What do you unserstand?"
"It was the accountant. Who was it? He must have secretly sold the grain in the warehouse. He has been here for five or six years and is more trusted by the master than I am. If the master wants to find someone to keep an eye on me, he is the most suitable person!"
"What about the others?"
"Three days ago, he said he was going to Chengtian Prefecture to meet up with his friends. He probably won't be back for a while! But I know where he lives. As long as I find the key from his house, I can prove my innocence!"
"Since you are so sure, I will trust you once again. But what if I don't find the key in his house?"
Manager Zhu smiled bitterly and said, "If you don't find it, I will leave it to you, adults." He could only take a gamble. The warehouse key is very large. If you put the keys of several warehouses together, they would weigh two or three pounds in your hand. He bet that Accountant He would not carry them with him when he went out.
The yamen runners who had just been out were on their way again. This time it took a little longer than last time, after all, finding something was more difficult than simply counting.
However, the news they brought back made Manager Zhu feel relieved. In a hidden place in Accountant He's house, they indeed found a bunch of keys, which, after comparison, were exactly the same as the warehouse keys in Manager Zhu's hand.
It seems that this accountant He is the hidden contact person in Datong Grain Store. He must have many secrets!
(End of this chapter)