Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 361

After pouring Xiao Wu a glass of wine, Li Jing smiled and said, "Come with me to drink less."

Xiao Wu took the wine glass and said, "That's fine, I'll have two drinks with Dad."

Li Jing smiled, raised his wine glass to Xiao Wu and said, "Little Wu, you have been by my side all these years, you have worked hard! Come on, let me have a toast!"

After finishing speaking, Li Jing raised his glass and touched Xiao Wu, then drank it down in one gulp.

Seeing Xiao Wu, he hurriedly drank the wine in his glass.

Waving his hand, Li Jing stopped Xiao Wu from talking: "Father knows what you want to say, and he knows it in his heart. Let's make it clear, okay?"

"En." Xiao Wuzhong nodded emphatically.

"Eat the vegetables, eat the vegetables, we will be a family from now on, don't be polite." Li Jing tapped the wine table with his chopsticks and said with a smile.

After hearing this, several girls hurriedly picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.

I don't know if it's because the girls have a small appetite, or it's the first time eating with a man. After a few bites, the girls put down their chopsticks and said they were full.

Li Jing looked at the almost untouched dishes on the table and sighed: "What a waste! These are the hard work of the common people. We don't know how to be frugal. I'm sorry for those common people!"

After finishing speaking, Li Jing looked at the girls and said, "I don't think you guys behave like girls from ordinary families. Can you tell me what happened at home so that you can come out and be girls?"

Seeing Li Jing's kind attitude, several girls looked at each other, and one of the girls boldly said: "We are all family members of criminal officials. Because our father committed crimes, after ransacking our house, we were sent to the teaching workshop. manage."

"Jiaofang Division? What's that place?" Li Jing asked suspiciously.

Xiao Wu didn't know where the Jiaofang Division was, so he hurriedly asked the girls, "Where is the Jiaofang Division?"

Just now the girl hastily told the story of Jiaofangsi.

Li Jing nodded silently, and after a while, suddenly asked: "When were you sent to the Jiaofang Division?"

"The servant's house was ransacked in early August, and then the servant was sent to the Jiaofang Division." The girl said sadly.

"We were also sent to Jiaofang Division at that time." The other girls said.

"Early August? Is that what happened after I entered Beijing?" Li Jing's expression slowly became solemn as he spoke.

After pondering for a while, Li Jing asked seriously: "Are you sure you remember correctly, the house was confiscated after July, and then sent to the Jiaofang Division?"

"How can I remember this wrong? In July of this year, the court seized corrupt officials, and a large number of officials in the capital were ransacked." A girl hurriedly said.

Li Jingjing nodded, turned to look at Xiao Wu and said, "Ma Wu and Yang Liufeng handled that case together, right?"

"It seems to be, but the Jiaofang Department is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, and the chief officer is Uncle Yuan." Xiao Wu said hurriedly.

"You want to help them out, don't you? Let someone call Ma Wu and Yang Liufeng, and I'll ask them what's going on?" Li Jing said angrily.

Xiao Wu hurriedly said: "Father, it's so late, you finally have time to rest, don't deal with business today, let's talk about it tomorrow!"

Li Jing was furious: "Is this a trivial matter? Can it be delayed? Go and call them!"

"Father!" Seeing that Li Jing was angry, Xiao Wu hurriedly pushed away the chair and knelt down on the ground: "Father, I beg you, please take a rest! You will be exhausted if you go on like this. I beg you, my child." You!"

He kept kowtowing while talking.

Seeing this, Li Jing sighed softly, leaned over and pulled Xiao Wu up and said, "Good boy, get up quickly. You feel sorry for Dad, and Dad knows it, but think about it, how about I settle this matter? Can I rest?"

Hearing the words, Xiao Wu sighed helplessly, then glared at the girls fiercely, and said in his heart: "Few dead girls, what are you talking about for the Jiaofang Secretary, and my father didn't get a rest, wait Let's see how I deal with you in the future."

Seeing that Xiao Wu's eyes were a bit wrong, Li Jingzhao patted Xiao Wu's head lightly: "What are you thinking? Let me tell you, don't be fooled. If I know that you are fooling around, don't stay by my side in the future. .”

Seeing that Li Jing had seen through his thoughts, Xiao Wu immediately lowered his head and said, "My child knows."

When Xiao Wu went out, Li Jing looked at the girls and sighed softly.

These six girls are unfortunate, but also lucky.It is said that they are unfortunate because they were sent to the Jiaofang Division because of their family's involvement.It is said that they are lucky because they were taken out of the Jiaofang Division and sent to his mansion, and he promised to keep these six girls.

Pointing to the table, Li Jing sighed and said, "Remove the food and wine."

"Yes!" Several girls hurriedly got up and answered, and then hurriedly removed the food and drinks.

After the six girls cleaned up, they stood in front of Li Jing with their hands tied. Li Jing smiled, beckoned to them and said, "Follow me to the study."

"Yes, handsome!" The six girls responded.

In the study room, Li Jing pointed to the desk and said to the six girls: "Can you write? If you know how to write, who are the people in your family, what are their names, where are they now, and what are they doing? I wrote it for you."

The girls didn't know what Li Jing meant, but they spread paper and ground it according to the words, and then wrote silently.

After the girls finished writing, they dried the ink on the paper and handed it to Li Jing.Li Jing took it, and was taken aback when he saw it for the first time. The handwriting of these girls is beautiful, and the handwriting is much more beautiful than his own.

With a wry smile, Li Jing looked carefully.

After reading all of them, Li Jing couldn't help shaking his head secretly. The names of the fathers or grandfathers of these six girls, Li Jing, were well remembered. He was one of the officials who were more corrupt and broke the law during the last big purge. several.

If the crimes committed by these people were based on the laws formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang, they would definitely be skinned and stuffed with grass, even if they were based on the laws formulated by Li Jing, they would also be executed.

However, Li Jing had just entered Beijing at that time, and his foothold was not stable. Although the methods used to capture the officials were fierce, the punishment was not too heavy. Among the six people, only four were beheaded by Li Jing's order, and the other two were sentenced to life imprisonment.

However, the laws enacted by Li Jing did not end with the punishment of officials. Not only should the property of criminal officials and corrupt ink be recovered, but fines should also be imposed.

Thinking about the money these people were greedy for ink, Li Jing finally understood why Ma Wu and Yang Liufeng sent the family members of these people to the Jiaofang Division.

The reason is very simple, that is, after these people checked their family property, they did not equal the amount of money for corruption and punishment.

Who are Ma Wu and Yang Liufeng?It is definitely not worth the number.

Li Jing reckoned that these two people must have seen that these companies could not make up enough money, so they kept doing two things, asking these people's wives and daughters to sell themselves to earn money to fill this hole.

This obviously violates the laws formulated by Li Jing. One of the laws formulated by Li Jing is that the crime is not as serious as the family members, unless the family members also join in the corruption and accept bribes.If the family members help officials extort bribes, then Li Jing will never be polite.

You must know that Li Jing is by no means a good man and a believer. If he was a good man and a believer, he would not be able to achieve the position he is today. Thinking back, the few bandits who betrayed him were dug by him and died in the hands of the officers and soldiers. Then he made a profit a reputation for righteousness.

However, Li Jing still has a certain bottom line in doing things. He can't do things like letting his underage daughters sell themselves to earn money to pay off their father's debts.

This is why Li Jing was angry just now. The oldest of these six girls was no more than fifteen or sixteen years old (the older ones were taken out to pick up guests). Although girls at this age in the Ming Dynasty could already marry, but In Li Jing's eyes, they are still children at this age. These girls probably don't even know the ways of the world, so how could they help their elders to embezzle and ask for bribes?
Looking at the list in his hand, Li Jing pondered silently. Most of the men on the list were involved in the case and have been punished together, while most of the female family members were sent to the Jiaofang Division.

Li Jing has no compassion for those males, and those who work for tigers are the most hateful. If there were no such people to follow and fuel the flames, those officials might not have fallen to where they are today.

But most of the female family members are innocent, so it is obviously unfair to let them be punished.

But now there is the biggest trouble, that is, these families have been ruined. After these women are released from the Jiaofang Division, how will they live?
These women are already homeless, and in addition to having been in the Jiaofang Division, even if they did not receive guests, others would not believe it. I am afraid that no one is willing to take them in.

Most of these women don't have any skills. If they want to make a living, they can only sell themselves in brothels, so what's the use of rescuing them from Jiaofangsi?
Counting the number of people on the list, Li Jing frowned. There are quite a few of them.

After thinking about it, Li Jing turned his head and said, "Xiao Wu, you... Huh? Where are you?"

"Marshal, didn't you ask Xiao Wu to go find Master Ma and Master Yang?" A girl hurriedly asked.

Li Jing shook his head and said with a smile: "How can he go in person to find someone? This kid is hiding."

After a pause, Li Jing shouted: "Little Wu, you brat, get out of here quickly!"

As soon as Li Jing finished speaking, Xiao Wu outside the door responded, "Here we come! We come!"

Seeing Xiao Wu push the door and come in, Li Jing glared at Xiao Wu and said, "Stinky boy, why are you so thoughtful? You don't want to stay by my side anymore, do you? Go, let someone invite Mr. Fang here."

"Ah? Why did you invite Uncle Fang again? Dad, can you rest today?" Xiao Wu said with a crying face.

"So much nonsense! Go and call someone!" Li Jing shouted.

"Yes!" Xiao Wu walked out the door dejectedly upon hearing this.

Just as Xiao Wu left the house, Ma Wu and Yang Liufeng came hand in hand.

Seeing the expressions of the two, Li Jing knew that the two already knew why he called them here, presumably it was Xiao Wu who asked him to tell them.

After glancing at Ma Wu and Yang Liufeng coldly, Li Jing handed the list to them and said, "Look for yourself!"

Ma Wu and Yang Liufeng took the list and looked at it for a while, but they both bowed their heads in silence.

"Why don't you talk?" Li Jing said coldly.

(End of this chapter)