dognovel Chapter 538 This is nothing.
Chapter 538 This is nothing.
Watching Huo Lingyue being dragged away, Emperor Zhu put his hands in his sleeves and snorted like a wealthy landlord.
"I feel sorry for my daughter Hu Dechang, who didn't spend a single penny of Huo Lingyue's money."
That description of the scoundrel is spot on.
I don't know where he got all these sarcastic remarks from.
And as this scoundrel mentioned before, with the spread of honeycomb briquettes and the implementation of the progressive tax system, more and more gentry will choose to mine coal, and cases like Chen Da's disappearance will become more and more common.
What the hell should we do about this?
It is certain that the gentry will be prohibited from taking bribes from the coal mines.
The problem is that mines aren't just coal mines; there are all sorts of other miscellaneous mineral deposits. Are we just going to ban them all at once?
I couldn't resist.
Even if mining is banned, those gentry will turn to workshops instead. However, workshops are not as good as black coal mines for hiding people, and it will not be as easy to stage the disappearance of Chen Da as it is in black coal mines.
However, trying to completely prevent those gentry from interfering in their affairs is nothing short of wishful thinking.
Especially the Ji'an Academy from which Huo Lingyue came from.
Who are the connections behind Huo Lingyue that would make a fourth-rank prefect choose to take all the blame in order to protect the people behind him?
What role did Ji'an Academy play in this?
Besides Ji'an Academy, how many people or forces were involved in Jianyang, Fujian, and Yuyao, Zhejiang?
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the more troubled he became.
Even as the sun was setting, when the imperial guards sent by Yang Shaofeng to rescue Chen Da and other laborers from the black coal mine returned to the county office, Emperor Zhu still couldn't figure out what was going on.
The commander of the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guards strode to Emperor Zhu's side, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Imperial Son-in-Law, there are a total of twenty-seven people like Chen Da who have been rescued, and a total of fifty-six beggars who have mysteriously disappeared over the years."
"These are just the survivors; the number of people who died in the illegal coal mines is impossible to count."
"According to the results of the interrogation by the brothers, the illegal coal mine in Hu Dechang's family was only dug in the third year of Hongwu."
In other words, in just over a year and less than two years, Hu Dechang forced at least eighty-three ordinary people and beggars to do hard labor.
Emperor Zhu gave a forced smile and asked Yang Shaofeng, "Tell me, on what charges should Hu Dechang and the others be punished?"
Yang Shaofeng sneered and said, "Mining without the permission of the government is one crime, and forcibly taking people as laborers is another crime. But if both crimes are punished together, it will only result in beheading, hanging, and confiscation of property."
"In my opinion, it would be better to directly charge Hu Dechang and the others with the crime of mutilation and mutilation, and then send someone back to the capital by fast horse so that the Ministry of Justice can increase the punishment for mutilation and mutilation before Hu Dechang and the others are escorted to the capital."
“If we don’t implicate their entire families, we would be letting down the people who have died unjustly because of them in the past two years.”
After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng said in a low voice, "Should we have someone bring Chen Da and the others back first? Those who can be returned home should be released first, and those who have nowhere to go can be dealt with separately?"
Emperor Zhu grunted in agreement, and Yang Shaofeng then instructed the guards of the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence: "Bring Chen Da and the others up here. Also, have someone bring over all the household registration records from Laizhou Prefecture."
Chen Da is relatively easy to handle; he can simply be handed over to Wang Shi to take home. As for compensation, it can be left unsaid and can be discussed after Hu Dechang and the others have finished their trials.
For those who can find their family members in the household registration book, things are relatively easy; all they need to do is notify the head of each community and their family members to come and take the person back.
However, those who have become orphans, and those beggars who were already wandering around begging for food, are not so easy to deal with.
After all, these are all living, breathing people.
Although Emperor Zhu had previously made a grand gesture, indicating that these people would also be sent to Dengzhou Prefecture to work, it was uncertain whether these people, who were not relatives of convicted officials, would be willing to go to Dengzhou. Even if they did go to Dengzhou, they must be properly settled and not treated as forced laborers.
Just as Yang Shaofeng was thinking about how to settle these people, Chen Da and the others had already been brought to the main hall by the guards of the Prince Consort's Mansion.
Upon seeing Chen Da and the others, Wang rushed over, crying and hugging Chen Da tightly, repeatedly calling out, "My son, my son."
Skin and bones, emaciated, lifeless—these adjectives were brought to life at this moment.
Seeing the expressions of Chen Da and the others, Emperor Zhu's anger, which he had barely managed to suppress, suddenly flared up again.
Emperor Zhu gritted his teeth and said, "Hu Dechang, Huo Lingyue, you two are truly remarkable!"
Yang Shaofeng wanted to add fuel to the fire by saying, "This kind of thing will happen more and more often in the future," but when he saw Lao Deng's face, which was as black and as foul as could be, Yang Shaofeng ultimately said nothing more.
Just then, Wang, who had been crying for a long time, finally came to her senses. She pulled Chen Da to kneel down before Emperor Zhu and Yang Shaofeng, and said, "This humble woman kneels to thank Your Majesty for your great kindness and virtue, and kneels to thank the Prince Consort for your great kindness and virtue!"
Raising her head, Madam Wang pulled Chen Da's arm and said, "Son, it was the Emperor and the Prince Consort who sent people to rescue you. Quickly kowtow to the Emperor and the Prince Consort to express your gratitude!"
As Wang finished speaking, the people who had been standing timidly in the hall were suddenly stunned.
He originally thought he would have to work hard in the coal mine until he died, but unexpectedly he was rescued.
He thought it was some official who suddenly took pity on him, but he never expected that it was the emperor and his son-in-law who saved him.
The crowd of people knelt down in a flurry, kowtowing repeatedly to Emperor Zhu and Yang Shaofeng in gratitude.
For a moment, Emperor Zhu couldn't quite describe how he felt.
Seeing that Emperor Zhu's expression was not right, Yang Shaofeng first gave a wink to the lame Wu and the commander of the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guards, and then whispered to Emperor Zhu, "Father-in-law, it is more important to settle the people first."
Emperor Zhu gave the crowd a deep look, took a deep breath, and said, "Get up, everyone. We're tired. Let's go and rest for a while."
After Emperor Zhu left, Yang Shaofeng turned his gaze to the crowd of people and said loudly, "Those who have registered their household registration with the government should stand on the left, and those who have not registered should stand on the right."
……
Resettling these people who were forced to do hard labor in illegal coal mines is relatively simple.
Dealing with Huo Lingyue, Pang Zhen, Hu Dechang, and others wasn't too difficult.
But the messy, unpleasant things that followed were a real headache.
Emperor Zhu, in particular, felt a burning hatred whenever he thought of the many corrupt officials like Huo Lingyue and Pang Zhen in the bureaucracy.
"I really want to kill all these bastards!"
Looking at Old Deng beside him, who was gritting his teeth, radiating murderous intent, and cursing all the way, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but smile.
Where did this go?
It's just a few illegal coal mines.
If you, Old Deng, knew about all sorts of illegal mines and things like the "996 Blessing" program, wouldn't you be so angry you'd fly to heaven on the spot?
No, the "996 blessing" shouldn't mean much to Lao Deng, after all, Lao Deng gets up earlier than the chickens, sleeps later than the dogs, and works more than the oxen. He's a true overtime maniac.
Old Deng should be made aware of what the gentlemen of Donglin have done.
Wouldn't that make old Deng so angry that he'd ask the heavens for another five hundred years?