Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Finally got to this point.

When he said earlier that it was Madam Zhang who asked them to come to Qingdao County, Chen Shao thought she had guessed wrong.

Now it seems that there is another hidden story.

After Chen Shao deliberately waited until he was dragged out of the gate, he asked the yamen runners to let him go. After he crawled back into the house, he deliberately warned him with a cold face: "According to the Datong Law, fabricating and falsely reporting the case is a heavier crime. You'd better think it over carefully before you speak!"

"Think it through!" Yang Yi knelt on the ground. He knew that this was his only chance to survive, so he didn't dare to keep it a secret. He said hurriedly, "I want to sue Yang Dechang, the mine supervisor of Mengshe Smelting Supervisor. Yang Dechang ignored the miners' lives and forced them to dig vertically deep to mine iron ore. When they dug deep and encountered water seepage in the rock strata, they were not allowed to leave the mine. Anyone who dared to disobey his orders would be beaten to death in public with an iron whip!"

Chen Shao's heart skipped a beat. The difficulty of rescuing a collapsed iron mine is not ordinary in modern society. In this period, it is basically a death sentence. Water seepage in the rock layer is one of the important signals of collapse risk. Edward Yang is disregarding other people's lives!

But... Chen Shao calmly questioned: "How did you know about such a confidential matter as water seepage in the rock formation?"

Yang Yi stretched out his hands, revealing his black nails, and said, "Before I came to Qingdao County, I was working at the Mengshe Smelting Supervisor. I saw water seeping from the rock strata, and I didn't want to lose my life there, so I escaped."

Seeing that she looked unfriendly, he quickly explained: "I didn't run away secretly. I spent two taels of silver to bribe the mine supervisor Yang Dechang and the supervisor Song Baotian, and was released. When I came out, the iron ore rock layer had already seen a lot of water, and there was a risk of collapse at any time. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to investigate immediately."

Of course Chen Shao would not easily believe his words, and questioned again: "How long have you been away from Mengshe Smelting Prison?"

Yang Yi hesitated and said, "I left at the end of October."

Facing her questioning gaze, he defended himself: "On the third day after I came out, I received a letter from my sister asking us to come to Qingdao County, and then we came."

"That's almost two months," Chen Shao asked, "Did the iron mine at Mengshe Smelting Bureau collapse?"

Yang Yi choked for a moment, and then defended himself: "Although it hasn't collapsed yet, it will sooner or later. There are nearly 2,000 miners in the mine. Once the iron mine collapses, few of these 2,000 people will be able to escape."

Chen Shao knew that he was exaggerating. There were indeed nearly 2,000 people working underground in the Mengshe Smelting Supervision, but these 2,000 people were divided into two shifts, day and night. At the same time, among these 2,000 people, at most only 800 were mining ore. The remaining 1,200 people, at least 300 of them were support workers, at least 200 were drainage workers, at least 500 were ore transporters, and at least 200 were logistics and arrangements.

And it is impossible that the entire iron mine is leaking water, otherwise it would have collapsed into a pile of ash long ago.

However, Chen Shao did not expose him.

No matter how many mines are leaking water or how many people are inside the mines, as long as what he said is true, it deserves attention.

Thinking of this, Chen Shao ordered Magistrate Wang, "Detain him first, and I will investigate and convict him later."

Yang Yi breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, his life was saved temporarily. Moreover, the water seepage in the iron mine of Mengshe Smelting Supervision was also a fact. He did not make it up. At most, he exaggerated it a little. But he had been in Qingdao County for almost two months. Even if there were only signs of water seepage in those mines before he came, it must have become very serious now. As long as she arranged for someone to check it out, it would naturally prove that he was not lying, and thus completely save his life.

Watching his back being taken away by the yamen runners, Chen Shao's expression gradually became serious.

Zhou Lao saw this and said quickly, "This man doesn't speak much truth. Your Excellency doesn't need to take it to heart."

Magistrate Wang glanced at him and lazily reminded him, "This is a matter of life and death. Regardless of whether what he said is true or not, it's better to send someone to investigate. It won't take much time anyway."

Chen Shao's eyes fell on him. "I won't tell you how much you have embezzled over the years. Be self-conscious and send two-thirds to Hongyuan County within ten days."

Magistrate Wang stood up with a grin on his face, and bowed to her, saying, "Even if your Excellency doesn't tell me, I would still do this. I have already ordered people to pack up the profits I have earned for the court over the years last night, and they must be delivered to Hongyuan County within ten days."

Chen Shao glanced at him with a half-smile, then turned to Zhou Lao.

Zhou Lao quickly sat up straight.

Chen Shao paused and said, "I don't have time to go and see how Jingchuan County is. But judging from the situation in Xitang County and Qingdao County, it should not be much worse. Later, you will arrange Jin Zhiyuan to Qingdao County to temporarily take over the post of county magistrate. You will take Magistrate Wang to investigate Jingchuan County and several counties under its jurisdiction, and deal with all the backlog and unjust cases as soon as possible. Afterwards, arrange for Magistrate Wang to go to Hongyuan County to learn how they are rectified there, and then rectify Jingchuan County from beginning to end according to their way."

Zhou Lao hurriedly said yes.

When County Magistrate Wang heard that Jin Zhiyuan was going to replace him as the magistrate of Qingdao County, he was somewhat resistant at first. But after hearing the following words, he rubbed his hands together and smiled with wrinkles all over his face. This was a promotion.

The matter of Mengshe Smelting Bureau was too serious, so Chen Shao could not stay any longer. He had a simple lunch and set off back to Hongyuan County.

Yes, back to Hongyuan County.

On the road.

After asking Gu Feiyan for the complete situation of Mengshe Smelting Prison, Chen Shao arranged for Fu Jiu to secretly go to Yaocheng County with two elite soldiers.

On the day of returning to Hongyuan County, Chen Shao arranged two groups of people to go to Yaocheng County, one of which also brought Bao Chengle.

"Originally, I was planning to ask you to send the prisoners of several big families, such as the Zhu family and the Gu family, to the border, and let them serve labor in the army to atone for their crimes. Now it seems that the Mengshe Prison may be more suitable for them." Chen Shao had no time to ask her about her situation during the half month since she left Hongyuan County. She just asked Quan Shuyu a few questions casually in her spare time at night. After learning that everything went well, she turned her attention back to the issue of the Mengshe Prison, "If possible, I hope you can postpone your departure for a month or two."

Gu Feiyan raised one eyebrow slightly.

Chen Shao said straightforwardly: "I'll give you half of the money that Magistrate Wang embezzled."

I was waiting for you to say this. Gu Feiyan said readily, "Deal!"

She had already seen that she was not only good at investigating cases, but also good at making money, and more importantly, she could do it in a reasonable way. She had to hold on to such a purse.

Seeing her looking him up and down, Chen Shao shook his head helplessly and said with a smile, "Li Tianliu is cooperating with Wang Cong, Liu Zizhuang and others to suppress bandits, and he may not be able to get away for a while. If the mine of Mengshe Smelting Supervisor really has signs of water seepage as Yang Yi said, and the mine supervisor and foremen do not care about the lives of the miners and force them to continue mining, then it is very likely that this is not the first time they have disregarded human lives."

"The governor of Yunnan County is Sun Guishan, and the supervisor of Mengshe Smelting Prison is his younger brother Sun Guihe. They are in collusion with each other and are in cahoots with each other. It will be difficult to suppress them without using force."

Gu Feiyan asked: "When do we set off?"

Chen Shao glanced at the white sunlight outside and said decisively: "Tomorrow afternoon!"

Gu Feiyan stood up: "Then I'll go get ready."

Chen Shao said yes, and after watching her walk away, he turned back to look at Quan Shuyu who was hesitant to speak, and without waiting for her to ask, he said, "You should also pack up and leave together."

A smile immediately broke out on Quan Shuyu's face. He replied "yes" crisply and quickly went to pack up.

Day two.

Hearing that she was going to Mengshe Prison again, Qi Ye, Zhao Liangzhu and others rushed to the prefectural residence to see her off early in the morning.

Chen Shao said a few words to comfort them and asked about their respective situations. They had lunch together and left Hongyuan County again without waiting for Li Tianliu to come back.

To get from Hongyuan County to Yunnan County, one needs to cross Sheyue County.

Although it is an official road, there are many dangers and obstacles.

On such a road, the carriage was already moving very slowly. When the officials and people of Sheyue County heard that she was coming, they lined the streets to welcome her or stopped her on the road to appeal for justice. After half a month of traveling, they had not even covered one-third of the distance.

Just when Chen Shao was thinking about whether to abandon the car and avoid the officials and people of Xiyue County, someone stopped the team from afar and knelt down to cry out for justice.

At this moment, Chen Shao decided that after finishing the case, he would abandon the car and ride a horse to avoid everyone: "Go and ask what's going on?"

The elite soldiers on the side quickly rode forward, and came back a moment later, saying with a rather strange look: "The man said he wanted to sue Sun Guishan, the governor of Yunnan County, saying that he was a fake, and the real Sun Guishan had already been killed by him."

Chen Shao ordered: "Bring him here!"