Chapter 468 - Autumn Levy (Part 23)
"Chen Minggang is the Household Clerk of this county. Why would he commit such an unlawful act? Unless you hold some grudge against your master and seek revenge?" Zhou Dongtian deliberately suggested.
"I dare not!" Zhou Qi hastily defended himself. He then explained how Chen Minggang had planned to exploit the grain collection as an opportunity to extort the major households handsomely, how he had proactively proposed the "land survey" as a pretext for extortion, and all his various schemes—confessing everything in complete detail. Finally, he added tearfully that because the major households were planning to submit a petition, Chen Minggang had ordered him to hire ruffians to intimidate them.
The testimony was both reasonable and plausible. Moreover, over ninety percent of it was true. The listening audience couldn't help but believe it.
Huang Binkun sipped some cold tea and steadied his nerves, recovering from his earlier shock. He assessed the situation: Chen Minggang's guilt was now established beyond doubt. Even the Australians couldn't protect him anymore—to do so would be to openly make enemies of the county's gentry. It seemed the Australians intended to use Chen Minggang as a scapegoat. If so, Huang Binkun thought, the Australians would now be at odds with the clerks. These "skulking worms" who knew the county inside out would no longer be useful to them—that eliminated a major future threat!
"So you're saying the petition submitted by the gentry, accusing your people of openly soliciting bribes—using bribes to determine land survey figures and tribute rice amounts—is factually correct?"
"It is true. The several grain households I personally handled were all managed according to my master's instructions."
"Are there ledgers?"
"The ledgers are all in my master's possession. We dare not keep private copies."
"Where did the knives and bow and arrows come from?"
"My master gave them to me," Zhou Qi said. "I dare not lie."
"Good, you may step back!" Zhou Dongtian surveyed the gentry. "It appears Chen Minggang is the principal culprit in this matter."
"This man is guilty of heinous crimes!" Sun Ruiwu was quick to see which way the wind blew and immediately chimed in.
The gentry, seeing Zhou Dongtian's public pronouncement, knew the outcome of this case would favor them. They all relaxed. Thinking of all the harassment and intimidation they had suffered these past days, they now felt as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun. Their admiration for the Australians' methods grew. Liu Dalin also silently praised them—if this case had been in the county magistrate's hands, nine times out of ten it would have been muddled through. The Australians handled matters with clarity: one was one, two was two—right and wrong clearly distinguished.
"Since this is so, his position as Household Clerk—"
"Shall naturally be revoked immediately." Wu Ya also stepped forward to declare.
"Good! Deputy Magistrate Wu, Magistrate Sun—you two are truly keen-eyed and upright officials of the Blue Sky!" Zhou Dongtian immediately ladled out some flattering praise. The gentry took the cue and chorused their agreement.
"Someone! Bring Chen Minggang and his entire gang to this court!"
"Aye!" Fu He, eager to redeem himself, threw himself into the task with great energy. He took the arrest tablet and assembled over a dozen of his constable brothers, preparing to go out. Just then, You Guotuan approached.
"Chief Fu, your men should stay here. Let these men accompany you instead." You Guotuan indicated the dozen or so men behind him. All wore yamen runner uniforms and carried weapons, each one radiating a murderous aura.
"Yes, yes." Fu He knew these were the Australians' trusted agents and didn't dare refuse.
Within half an hour, over twenty people had been brought into the Flower Hall courtyard. Chen Minggang's apprentices, grain runners, and hangers-on—everyone in the city—had been rounded up in one sweep. They knelt in the courtyard in a dark mass.
Chen Minggang was brought up to the hall. Seeing Zhou Qi kneeling to one side, his heart sank—this wretch must have sold him out.
Regarding his crimes, Chen Minggang adamantly refused to confess. The grain collection and land survey had been conducted with Australian consent—how could it be called "unauthorized"? As for extorting fees, that was merely "inadequate supervision" of subordinates—at worst a leadership lapse. Zhou Dongtian listened and found it all too familiar. So this kind of rhetoric was a tradition passed down through the ages.
As for intimidating gentry—that was even more absurd nonsense. This was perfectly true—it must have been Zhou Qi's own doing, a scheme to take revenge on his master.
"...Zhou Qi had no regard for proper hierarchy and repeatedly tried to seduce my concubine Qiuhong. Out of consideration for our master-apprentice bond, I tolerated this. Who knew this beast would do such a thing..." At this point, Chen Minggang actually choked up and shed tears.
"Nonsense!" Zhou Qi shouted. "There is nothing between Qiuhong and me..."
"Silence!" Wu Ya rapped the gavel. "Speak only when spoken to!"
"What an actor!" Zhou Dongtian had no interest in wrangling with Chen Minggang. This veteran clerk possessed a tongue like a blade. Though Zhou Dongtian had interrogation experience of his own, the language barrier made exchanges inconvenient, and he had no time for debate tournaments. Fortunately, the Great Ming wasn't exactly a place that respected judicial human rights—torture and interrogation required no pretense of disguise. He could take his time dealing with Chen Minggang later. For now, he would break through by targeting his subordinates.
However eloquent Chen Minggang might be, his underlings couldn't all be equally skilled. Zhou Dongtian had Umbrella-Shop Little Hu brought forward. According to the Political Security dossier, Little Hu was second only to Zhou Qi as a core figure in Chen Minggang's gang. Prying open his mouth would prove very useful.
When Umbrella-Shop Little Hu was brought up to the hall, he still attempted to defend himself. But a round of paddling had him crying for his parents, and he immediately confessed everything. This included Chen Minggang's orders to squeeze the grain households hard, pushing them to submit the petition so the Australians would think Huang Binkun was leading a grain resistance—all of it came pouring out.
"A proper Household Clerk, actually orchestrating grain resistance behind the scenes—what crime is this?" Zhou Dongtian exclaimed for the hall's benefit.
"Heinous crimes, heinous crimes!" Sun Ruiwu chimed in again. Wu Ya looked at him with contempt but said nothing.
More than a dozen grain runners were then brought forward. Those quick-witted enough confessed before any torture was applied; those less astute inevitably suffered in the flesh. The paddles in the hall cracked loudly, accompanied by wailing and howling. Lin Changsan's men's paddles were stained red with blood. The gentry, unused to witnessing such spectacular floggings, trembled and shuddered. Only Huang Binkun remained relatively composed.
Chen Minggang knelt to one side. Watching his subordinates confess and sign their statements one after another, watching Zhou Dongtian's demeanor of pursuing the matter to its conclusion, he grew alarmed. Yet one thing he still couldn't understand: why were they doing this? Yes, he had made a killing during the grain collection, but the benefits he'd brought them were far greater! As for ordering intimidation of the gentry—that was pure fabrication. Not even Zhou Qi would have had that kind of nerve!
...
"Well, do you have anything else to say?" Zhou Dongtian asked Chen Minggang, holding up the stack of confessions.
"This lowly one is truly wronged!" Chen Minggang stiffened his neck. "Under torture, what confession cannot be extracted? Since you insist on pinning these charges on me, I'd like to see how you'll manage to collect this year's autumn levy!"
"That's none of your concern." Zhou Dongtian knew the Planning Committee had already stockpiled enough Vietnamese rice. Even if not a single grain was collected from Lingao County, the autumn levy could still be fulfilled. Threatening the county magistrate with this might work; trying it on the transmigrators, who controlled the Vietnamese rice supply chain, was simply a joke. "Take him away and throw him in the jail!"
"Don't celebrate too soon!" Chen Minggang knew the situation was beyond saving. Given the Australians' methods, he wouldn't survive. Faced with death, the comfortable feeling of control that had served him well for years collapsed entirely. Only blind rage remained. He roared, "You've all colluded with the Baldies—sooner or later you'll meet your end at the execution ground! As for you major households—" he glared at them viciously, "—the day the Australians flay you alive is coming!"
These words made everyone in the hall change color. The few sentences struck at what weighed on everyone's minds. Zhou Dongtian was furious. "Shut him up!"
Someone immediately came over and looped a prepared cord around Chen Minggang's neck, pulling it tight. He could no longer speak.
"Take him away!" Zhou Dongtian shouted.
After the prisoner was removed, the gentry had no desire to remain. One after another, they asked to take their leave. Zhou Dongtian didn't urge them to stay. He ordered the court adjourned—someone would naturally clean up the Flower Hall. Zhou Dongtian, together with Wu Ya and the others, went to the rear document-signing room to sit. Xiong Buyou had already been waiting there.
"Chen Minggang still hasn't confessed. Should we hold another court session?" Wu Ya asked. Chen Minggang had stubbornly refused to admit guilt, and in ancient times, trials placed great emphasis on confession. Without the prisoner's signed confession, the case wasn't considered closed.
Sun Ruiwu said, "Just use torture. He'll have no choice but to confess. We must make this an ironclad case!" Terrified by Chen Minggang's outburst in court, he had resolved to have him put to death.
"Actually, making this into a formal case might not be the best approach." Wu Ya, more shrewd and calculating, said, "What charge should we impose? If we want to give him a capital sentence, won't we have to report it to the Ministry of Justice for review..."
Instinctively, neither of them wanted to report this matter further up—best to avoid stirring up trouble.
"No need to make it an ironclad case. The circumstantial evidence is now complete—that's sufficient to revoke his position as Household Clerk." Zhou Dongtian said. "Just hand him and his men over to us."
"This—" Wu Ya hesitated. In Australian hands, Chen Minggang would certainly not survive. The problem was finding a proper pretext for transferring prisoners.
"It's nothing." Zhou Dongtian said. "Once Chen Minggang is stripped of his clerkship, he can't remain at the county yamen. Where he goes from there is his own business—why should you concern yourselves?"
Wu Ya agreed. After discussion, they settled on charging Chen Minggang with "extorting the locality and disturbing the people," sufficient grounds to strip him of his Household Clerk position. The Constable Squad chief, Fu He, would also be dismissed at the same time—both to be quietly handed over to the transmigrators for private disposal.
This created two important vacancies.
"The Household Clerk position will be filled by Zhou Qi," Xiong Buyou said. The Household Office had pressing business, and the autumn levy still needed to be handled. They couldn't put an inexperienced person in charge. Having Zhou Qi take over as a transition was most suitable.
Zhou Qi had obtained this position by selling out his master. He would inevitably be reviled by his peers. Only by serving the transmigrators with complete devotion could he protect both his position and his life.
(End of Chapter)