Chapter 2446 Gui Zi Juan Li Dai Tao Jian, the Zhou family came to power
It can be said that the new four families are the first to be finalized, and the Zhou family may have the worst outcome.
Involving murder, and colluding with water bandits on the Yangtze River to commit crimes, no one can tolerate this kind of evil behavior, which is far better than trafficking in illicit salt or swallowing up land.
Therefore, under Feng Ziying's instruction, when the newspapers and periodicals in Jiangnan began to hype up the Zhou family's "evil deeds", they quickly overwhelmed the Zhen family's "limelight". The ranking of Zhen, Zhou and Hu Tao was gradually replaced by that of Zhou Zhen and Hu Tao. .
Zhen Yingyu responded quickly. He originally brought 300,000 taels of silver to Songjiang for activities, but after being declined by the Lu family, he noticed a change in the situation. After returning to Nanjing, his daughter and niece had already entered the Feng Mansion.
And his brother's hope that Feng Ziying would be merciful also made him quite worried, but soon news came from Feng's house, telling the Zhen family to calm down.
After waiting, the Zhou family was taken down like a torrent of trouble, replacing the Zhen family as the "head sheep". Finally, the Zhen family realized the benefits of having someone in the court.
I have to say that the usefulness of Feng Ziying's operation in the middle has magnified the Zhou family's evil deeds infinitely. Of course, this is also a fact.
As the leading shipping tycoon in Jiangnan, he actually relies on this method to squeeze out and suppress his competitors, and several of them also have quite the background.
For example, the Long family was one of the largest shipping merchants in the Yangtze River ten years ago. The Long family was also the in-laws of Liu Yishen, the Minister of Punishment. Of course, Liu Yishen was not the Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment at that time.
The result was that during two shipments of goods, one was robbed by water bandits on the Hezhou River and suffered heavy losses, and the other was burned completely by an inexplicable large cargo while staying overnight at Wuchang Pier.
The two disasters not only severely damaged the vitality of the Long family, but also crucially resulted in the death of more than a dozen capable people. This incident alone caused the Long family to completely withdraw from the Yangtze River shipping competition and never turned around again.
Now it is found that Zhang Jing, one of the three major water bandits in the Yangtze River, was responsible for the crime in Hezhou River. However, he was ordered by the Zhou family, and the Zhou family also colluded with the internal personnel of the Jiang Waterproof Division to master the travel patterns of the Long family fleet. , so we can accurately attack the Long family fleet on the Hezhou River.
In another fire at Wuchang Wharf, the Zhou family directly bribed gangsters to set fire to the fire at night with strong fire oil and sulfur and other substances, directly burning seven merchant ships of the Long family.
The merchant ships originally carried medicinal materials from Sichuan, worth tens of thousands of taels. As a result, the Long family had to sell more than ten ships to get out.
These two things alone are enough to send the Zhou family into the eighteenth level of hell, where they will never be able to recover.
There are many similar situations, involving many lives. It can be said that among the four new families, the Zhou family is the least knowledgeable and the most ruthless.
But the background of the Zhou family is not simple. The direct sister of the head of the Zhou family married Xiao Daheng, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Justice ten years ago. At that time, Xiao Daheng was very popular. He served in several ministers and also served as the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. for many years.
However, Xiao Daheng retired due to illness many years ago, and passed away at the beginning of this year, so his influence has long dissipated.
Under this situation, it would be perfect for the Zhou family to be used as a model. Especially after Feng Ziying revealed to the Long family the circumstances of the Zhou family's conspiracy against the Long family, the Long family almost wanted to make the Zhou family lose at all costs. destruction.
Although Liu Yishen, an in-law, could not come forward in person, Han Xu must have specially said hello, and even Yang Lian had specially told him to crucify the Zhou family.
After these operations, the enthusiasm of the Zhen family naturally gradually dropped. Coupled with the Zhen family's submissive attitude, the list was sent over without greeting, which greatly satisfied Gu Bingqian's face, so he originally wanted to treat the Zhen family The attitude of killing them all has also changed slightly.
Feng Ziying had a good idea when she returned to Gu Bingqian's place.
Since Gu Bingqian has left a message, it means that there is some room for maneuver in his attitude of completely beating the Zhen family to death.
Of course, this is only limited to the treatment of the Zhen clan, and this can only be discussed after all the promised conditions are fulfilled.
What they were most worried about before this was that all members of the Zhen family would be thrown into prison. They should be sentenced to exile in places like Liaodong or Guizhou, and then the foundation of the entire Zhen family would be dismantled. That would truly be the day they never get ahead. .
Even if you can hide some wealth, you can only wait until the government's attention to the Zhen family shifts in a few decades before you can change your name and make a new start, but that is too difficult.
Feng Ziying returned to the house, and the four women came out to welcome her.
Feng Ziying was so busy during this period that she didn't even go back to the backyard. She spent most of her time resting in the study room in the front yard. She usually stopped working until late at night.
The four girls did not dare to disturb him, and could only wait eagerly for good news to come.
Zhen Baochen and Li Min were relatively more lively. Occasionally they would go to the front yard to show their faces by delivering soup and fruits, but it was difficult to get in touch with them. Basically, Wang Wenyan, Wu Yaoqing and Gu Dengfeng were all involved. exist.
Hot tea was served, and both shoulders, arms and neck were massaged by beauties. Feng Ziying enjoyed this comfort very much.
For a moment he felt as if he was in the capital, but the beauty had changed.
"After a tiring day, I finally got some insights." Feng Ziying had no intention of teasing the two daughters of the Zhen family and went straight to the point, "Mr. Gu Ge has relaxed a little today. Compared with the originally determined ending, the Zhen family may have a different outcome. It’s slightly better,…”
A gleam of joy bloomed in the eyes of the Zhen sisters, and Zhen Baochen asked: "Ms. sir, what you said is slightly better, what does it probably mean?"
"Originally, the men of your Zhen family were basically sent to exile to serve their sentences, and were not even allowed to return to their place of origin. This meant that they could only die in the border areas. The women were most likely to be from the Jiaofang Division. When Bao Chen came to me, I thought The Zhen family's attitude is considered sincere and they are willing to cooperate with the court, so they are thinking that maybe the women can be exempted from the Jiaofangsi and be distributed together with the men, and there is a time limit for obtaining the distribution, and we will see if there is a chance to return to the place of origin in the future..."
Feng Ziying did think so at the beginning.
However, as the information provided by the Zhen family played a considerable role, and the Tang family gained a lot, and the Zhou family's situation was even worse, Feng Ziying considered whether she could build up the Zhou family's momentum. And then take the limelight of the Zhen family and let the Zhen family take second place, so that they can also gain the initiative in handling the matter in the future.
Now it seems that this strategy was successful. The Zhou family took over and became the target of public criticism. Moreover, the Long family refused to let go, so the Zhen family was successfully allowed to step down and become a subordinate family like the Hu family and the Tao family.
"Now I am considering whether I can persuade Mr. Gu Ge. After your Zhen family has handed over all its assets, if you can continue to cooperate with the court to handle all matters in these aspects and achieve a satisfactory result, then can you consider You give preferential treatment, for example, whether you can be exempted from being sent to the army and replaced with a local prison sentence..."
The Ming Dynasty followed the law of the Ming Dynasty, and punished five punishments: death by caning. Among them, the two punishments of caning were physical punishments, and the operation flexibility was very flexible. The cane was used on the back, buttocks and legs, and the maximum was only fifty, and the minimum was five. If the yamen servants use it well, the thirty-fifty stick can only be used to lie down at home for three to five days before they can get up, and they can recover within ten days.
As long as the second punishment of caning is for minor crimes, it can often be replaced by paying a fine. However, this depends on the attitude of the official. He can agree to pay a fine in exchange for the punishment, or he can refuse.
Imprisonment is the most commonly used type, but the maximum sentence in Dazhou is five years, which means free labor under the supervision of the local government. For example, smelting iron and boiling salt, building bridges and roads, building embankments and digging rivers are all done under the supervision of the government. Under unified control, freedom is also restricted, but once the sentence is completed, you can return to normal status. This is also the most commonly used type of punishment.
Exile is the second most common punishment among the five punishments, second only to imprisonment. This is because some changes were made to exile in the Great Zhou Dynasty. There were cases where people were exiled to the army and were not allowed to return to their place of origin, and there were also situations where people were allowed to return to their place of origin after the final period of exile. But that also depends on the situation. Whether you survive until then, it can be said that exile is now the most severe punishment second only to the death penalty.
If the sentence is local, then as long as the management is good, the three-to-five-year sentence can be served quickly. However, Feng Ziying has to consider whether the Zhen family has made public outrage and whether their safety will become a risk if they stay in Nanjing. factor.
"Is it really possible? My husband, if that's the case, that would be great." Sister Zhen was overjoyed.
"Bao Chen, Bao Yu, I don't think so." Feng Ziying shook her head, "If Mr. Li Jia Shouzhong handles it this way, I think it is very appropriate. After all, he just plays tricks and talks too smoothly and offends several big bosses. It's too much, that's why it's like this. It's impossible to say who has a life-or-death feud with him. Several big bosses won't argue with him, so as long as the Li family ends Li Shouzhong's problem, Li Min Li Qi is no longer a problem."
"The Li family has no problem, but the Zhen family, the four families, the Ding and Tang families, and so many other families who have been raided for smuggling salt, will any of them slip through the net? All of this will be attributed to the Zhen family. In the end, will the family take revenge on the Zhen family? Jiangnan is originally their territory, if they really want to put all their efforts into it, wouldn’t the Zhen family be in danger? "
When Feng Ziying said this, the Zhen sisters immediately came to their senses. If they really want to be imprisoned locally, the government cannot keep an eye on them every day. As long as they are negligent, the danger from the outside world will be quite high. Only a thousand days of being a thief, There is no protection against thieves for a thousand days, so it is not suitable for the Zhen family.
(End of this chapter)