The next morning, Fang Jinshi came to Sihai Tea House, and Shi Hao came over and asked, "How is it?"
Fang Jinshi shook his head silently. Just as Shi Hao was about to ask a few more questions, he saw two government officials wearing soap clothes coming outside. The two walked up to Fang Jinshi and one of them said, "Is this Mr. Fang?"
Fang Jinshi nodded and said, "I'm the one, which yamen do you two belong to? What do you want from me?"
This person said: "We are from the Yamen of the Prefecture. Under the order of Magistrate Xiong, I would like to ask Mr. Fang to go to the Yamen to discuss something."
Fang Jinshi was startled, and another Yamen servant immediately said: "Prefect Xiong has ordered a search of the private tea at the dock. Young Master Fang is making a complaint, so he needs to go to the Yamen. Magistrate Xiong has something to say to Young Master Fang."
Fang Jinshi said: "Since Magistrate Xiong has an order, let's go there."
The two government officials led him out. When he came to the door, Fang Jinshi turned around and said to Shi Hao: "Go to the Criminal Division immediately and bring my post with you."
He followed the two yamen servants to the Pingjiang Prefecture Yamen. When they arrived at the ear room, a yamen servant went in to report to Xiong Che. After a while, the yamen servant came out and said: "The official who checked has not come back yet. Magistrate Xiong asked you to wait here."
Fang Jinshi had no choice but to wait at the government office. It was almost noon before a government official came over and said, "Mr. Fang, Magistrate Xiong has invited you."
Fang Jinshi stood up and followed him inside. He walked through a corridor and came to a tall house. There were big drums on the left and right in front of the door. Under the flying eaves, a huge plaque hung in the middle with six words written on it. The big characters: Heavenly principles, human feelings, national laws.
Two teams of government officials stood majestically on both sides, with a sign saying "Quiet, Avoidance" behind them. This was the main hall of the government office of Pingjiang Prefecture.
Fang Jinshi was shocked. After seeing it clearly, he couldn't help but take two steps back. The officer who was leading the way stopped and said, "Master Fang, Magistrate Xiong is waiting in the main hall, please come in."
Fang Jinshi raised his eyes and saw that Xiong Che was sitting far away behind the high desk in the main hall of the Yamen. The swordsmen and pen clerks were sitting on the left and right sides, waiting for him to come in. Fang Jinshi knew that something was wrong, but he had no choice but to go in, so he had to bite the bullet. Slowly walked into the majestic main hall of Pingjiang Prefecture Yamen.
He walked to the middle of the main hall, bowed his hands to Xiong Che and saluted: "I met Magistrate Xiong in the stone below."
Xiong Che sat behind the desk, hummed, and then said: "This morning, according to your report, I ordered people to search the warehouse of the dock. Sure enough, a large amount of tea was seized. However, the manager of the dock said that this batch of tea came from you. Sihai Tea House, is it true?¡±
This is irrefutable, Fang Jinshi said: "That's right."
Xiong Che paused for a moment and looked at the criminal prosecutor beside him who was writing down the record of the criminal case, as if he was waiting for him to finish writing before asking. Fang Jinshi's heart skipped a beat. , but it seems to be a judgment of the case.
Xiong Che waited for Master Xing to pause for a moment, then asked: "Is there any tea in this batch of tea leaves?"
Fang Jinshi said hurriedly: "Didn't the tea guide be handed over to you, Magistrate Xiong, yesterday?" He was afraid that if Xiong Che didn't admit it, he would be in big trouble.
Xiong Che picked up a few pages of paper from the case and unfolded them to him: "But this?"
Fang Jinshi squinted his eyes and looked at it. Xiong Che said to the government servant next to him: "Show it to him."
A yamen servant took it and presented it to Fang Jinshi. Fang Jinshi looked at it carefully and saw that the tea leaves of that batch of tea were indeed correct, and they were indeed given to Xiong Che last night. After confirming, he said: "Yes. .¡±
The yamen servant took it and handed it back to Xiong Che. Xiong Che said, "Just admit it." He turned to Master Xing and said, "Let him draw the pledge."
The master took the written document, put a pen in Fang Jinshi's hand, and placed the document in front of him. Fang Jinshi read it carefully and found that it was just the few sentences Xiong Che asked him just now, and there was no deletion or addition. In this way, Fang Jinshi still felt that he couldn't draw this monogram. He looked up at Xiong Che and said, "If there is something wrong with this tea guide, please ask Magistrate Xiong to make it clear."
Xiong Che leaned on the desk and leaned his upper body forward: "What do you think?"
Fang Jinshi thought about it again and again, but still couldn't figure out what the problem was, so he had to say: "Cha Yin is the government's investigation of the tea mountain. I also collect tea according to the tea Yin. The quantity and grade will never be wrong. I really can't think of anything wrong." OK."
Xiong Che said: "There is nothing wrong. Mr. Fang is overly concerned. If you sign the monogram, this batch of tea will be returned to your Sihai Tea House. It is a legitimate business. How can the government ban it?"
Fang Jinshi looked at the tea introduction again, and really couldn't see anything wrong with it. Xiong Che sat behind the desk and looked at him eagerly. He knew that there must be something fishy in it, but he couldn't see anything wrong with it. , in this case?, but he couldn't help but draw the monogram, so Fang Jinshi gritted his teeth, picked up his pen and drew the monogram on the text.
Xiong Che watched him finish the process, sat upright, waved his hand to the audience and said, "This case is over for today. We will try it again tomorrow. Take him down."
After hearing what Xiong Che said, Fang Jinshi bowed and walked out. Suddenly he heard wind blowing behind his head. Before he could turn his head, an iron chain came from behind and tied his hands around his waist. Several government officials When he came up, he wrapped a few more winds and locked them one by one. Fang Jinshi couldn't move anymore. It felt like his hand was about to break. He couldn't help being shocked. He shouted to Xiong Che and asked: "Prefect Xiong, what do you mean?"
Xiong Che picked up the gavel heavily and slapped it on the case. His face immediately turned into a stern look, and he shouted: "You violated the imperial tea prohibition law and sold it privately. The quantity is so huge, and you come to ask me this question?" What do you mean, don¡¯t think that you can act recklessly just by relying on the big tree of Prince Yun. The laws of the court are current, and even if Prince Yun comes here, he can¡¯t save you."
Fang Jinshi said loudly: "I have imperial tea introduced here, how can I say it is sold privately?"
Xiong Che picked up the tea quotations and said: "Privately making imperial quotations is an even greater crime."
Fang Jinshi said: "The tea citation was paid by the imperial court and came from the mountain. How can you say it was made privately? Magistrate Xiong, it has the official seal of the imperial court on it. Is it fake?"
Xiong Che said: "The big seal is true, and there is nothing suspicious about the tea citation. But if you look closely, you can see that the tea citation has a red seal on the bottom and black ink on top. This means that the big seal is stamped first and then the filling is completed." If the number goes up, it¡¯s false.¡±
Fang Jinshi said: "This even if this is the case, this tea seal is from the imperial mountain field, and the big seal was stamped by Zhang Yuanshi of Huaixi Road. How can it be judged as fake?"
Xiong Che said coldly: "Nonsense, the rules set by the imperial court include writing the number of tea quotations at the mountain farm and using the seal for review by the transfer envoy. How can the order be wrong?"
Fang Jinshi said: "I have heard for a long time that the mountain farm on Huaixi Road is dozens of miles away from the headquarters of Zhuanzhuan. Zhang Zhuanzhuan is busy with official duties and will not always be at the mountain farm. He can trust his subordinates to cover a few blank tea guides and let them It is also available for emergencies. If Magistrate Xiong doesn¡¯t believe it, he can collect old tea yin to see if there are any similar situations. Based on this alone, Magistrate Xiong said that my tea yin is fake. It is really hard to believe, let alone the red tea yin. The ink marks intersect, and it¡¯s hard to tell whether the order is correct.¡±
Xiong Che didn't speak for a long time. He picked up the tea guides and looked at them again. He said in a calm voice: "Even if there are the same tea guides on the market as you said, I can only blame you for your bad luck. You deserve it." Unfortunately, for example, there are so many thieves in the world, but we cannot let the caught thieves go."
Fang Jinshi was very angry after hearing this and laughed: "Zhifu Xiong's rhetoric is really unconvincing."
Xiong Che said: "If you go to jail and think about it for a few days, you will serve." He stopped talking nonsense and waved his hand to the hall. Several government officials who looked like wolves and tigers rushed up, pulling on the chains and pushing them, saying He was scolded, kicked and beaten until he was taken to the Pingjiang Mansion Prison. He pushed Fang Jinshi in, closed the cell door and left.
Fang Jinshi's lungs were so angry that he had been punched and kicked by many government officials for nothing. Now it seemed that he had brought it on himself and shot himself in the foot. Even he himself did not understand why things suddenly took a turn for the worse and became like this. out of hand.
Fang Jinshi sat on the ground, unable to break free from the iron chains. He didn't even understand whether it was Xiong Che himself who wanted to suppress the power of Prince Yun Zhao Kai, so he treated him like this, or Cai Mengfu Zhirong and his gang had joined forces with Xiong Che. Start to kill him.
"Misfortune lies on the back of blessing, and fortune lies on the back of misfortune. He has accomplished several proud things one after another, so he makes things look too easy."
After an unknown amount of time, Fang Jinshi's hands were numb and he had no feeling. He felt uncomfortable and hungry. Finally there was movement outside the cell door. There were footsteps and several people were walking quickly. Fang Jinshi looked up and saw the people walking in front. It was Cai An, followed by one person, but it was Shi Hao and Wan Qixi.
When Fang Jinshi saw several people, he was extremely excited and immediately struggled to start. Cai Ang shouted to the cell leader: "Open the door quickly."
The prison boss hurriedly came over, took the key to open the door, and hurriedly took off the iron chain on Fang Jinshi's body. Cai An repeatedly cupped his hands and said, "I'm really sorry. I just realized that I made Mr. Fang suffer. Please forgive me." crime."
Fang Jinshi also knew that he was not to blame, his hands were no longer bound, and he felt much more relaxed. Shi Hao said, "Why is this Governor Xiong like this? He takes everything he sees without any distinction."
Fang Jinshi knew very well that in a place like this, talking too much would lead to mistakes, and maybe the walls had ears. He glanced at Shi Hao, and Shi Hao understood, so he stopped talking.
Fang Jinshi bowed to Wan Qixi and Cai Ang and said, "I'm suddenly in a big disaster. I have to rely on you two more this time."
Cai Ang said: "Master Fang, please don't say that. Cai really never thought about it.When the news arrived, Governor Xiong would suddenly do this. I just came to ask him to see him, but he avoided seeing him and only said that we would talk about it tomorrow. He is the governor of Quan Pingjiang Prefecture. Without his order, there is nothing I can do. I am afraid that tonight I'm really sorry that I have to ask you to stay here for one night. "
Fang Jinshi said: "It's nothing to stay here for one night, but I'm afraid that Magistrate Xiong has already planned to kill me."