Working in Tianlao, day after day. Master Jin and his family have embarked on the road to exile. Cell No. 72 is empty. However, there were only two days left, and a new prisoner was imprisoned, a poor Beijing official. He was so poor that he had to patch his official robe and borrow money to live on. Why are people like this locked up? It is said that it was because he signed the memorial to impeach Jiang Tu. The old emperor's temper has been bad recently, and more and more people are falling down in the court. Even officials from Qingshui Yamen came out to join in the fun. In anger, the old emperor took out the memorial he had scolded the most, and all the officials who signed it were sent to prison to relieve their hatred. Isn't it just to ask Jiang Tu to ask the local government for money, exotic flowers, stones, and beautiful women in the name of building a palace and garden? Jiang Tu shared the saint's worries, not only did he not do anything wrong, but he did. However, the courtiers caught the slightest fault and scolded him non-stop, and even insinuated insults at the old emperor. The old emperor lost his temper several times, but could not suppress the fighting passion of the courtiers. In addition, the Jiangnan tax resistance case, which has been very popular recently, has also implicated Jiang Tu. Even the rebellion in Jinzhou in the north can be related to Jiang Tu. The old emperor was furious and arrested a group of officials to check the situation. If the courtiers are still ignorant, beheadings will begin.
The new prisoner in Cell No. 72 is named Jiang. Mr. Jiang was imprisoned under such circumstances. He signed his name and was imprisoned by the wolf-like Jin Yiwei. Because he was a poor Beijing official with no money, and the cell at Jinyiwei was a bit nervous, Mr. Jiang was lucky enough to be sent to the sky prison. Tianlao also has its own rules, and being poor is not the right thing to do. Qian Fugui and others complained in front of Chen Guanlou, "Mr. Chen, the superiors are urging me to pay according to the regulations. But the man named Jiang can't even squeeze out any oil. What should I do?" "The person named Jiang still owes others dozens of taels of silver and has not paid back." "My family is so poor that I can't even find anything valuable." "Eating is all borrowed money." "I heard that the yamen has not paid any salary for half a year. A poor official like him will be lucky if he doesn't starve to death." "According to the rules, at least six hundred taels. Even selling the one with the surname Jiang wouldn't be worth that much money." Several jailers talked about the rules of the prison on one side, and on the other side they were poor officials in the capital, unable to squeeze out any profit. It's really hard for them jailers to be caught in the middle. Chen Guanlou is also annoyed. He even suspected that the warden Wan deliberately placed Mr. Jiang in his jurisdiction just to disgust him. He simply said: "Let the person named Jiang borrow loan sharks. The rules of Tianlao cannot be broken." "The man surnamed Jiang said that if we kill him, he won't borrow money from usury. He won't be able to repay it. Anyway, he will die sooner or later. It's better to die in the sky prison. Maybe he can gain a reputation after his death. ” "These officials want their reputation rather than their lives. Mr. Chen, what do you think we should do?" Chen Guanlou rolled his eyes and snorted coldly, "He must know a few rich people. With so many classmates and colleagues, let him find a way to find someone to borrow money from." "The man named Jiang is like a stone in a latrine, smelly and hard. Most of the people he associates with are poor officials like him. There seems to be no one who can lend him six hundred taels of silver at a time." Chen Guanlou suddenly became angry, "This won't work, that won't work either, what do you think we should do?" "Why don't you take him to the torture chamber?"
"Let's do it like this." Chen Guanlou decided. The rules of the Tianlao must be followed, the money must be handed over, and the money must be handed over. But the warden Wan sent people to urge him again. Chen Guanlou went to the official room to meet with the warden Wan and asked him to give him a few days of grace. His people were working hard to collect money. Warden Wan sneered twice, "Don't bring the broken rules of the C-shaped prison to the A-shaped prison. The prisoners here are all imperial prisoners. As long as the imperial court does not punish their crimes, they will still be officials. No. Shangguan said, where do you have the courage to pay? Chen Guanlou, can you have some brains? " Chen Guanlou was holding back his anger at this moment, and he tried to suppress it, "The man named Jiang is a poor official in the capital, and he doesn't like hard and soft things. If you don't show him how powerful he is, it's impossible for him to lend money and pay. How about that?" Lord Wan, if you give me a few more days, you might be able to figure out a way to get money without paying." "You are presumptuous! Are you questioning my decision? Let me tell you, don't think that just because Fan Yucheng thinks favorably of you, you will have a backer. I have the final say in the A-shaped prison. I ask you to pay, so you must pay. , this is the rule. Don't talk to me about this difficulty or that, and don't think about using severe punishment. I will give you three days. If you can't get the money, I will remove you from your job. Go back to the C-shaped prison." At this moment, Chen Guanlou was absolutely sure that Prisoner Wan was engaging in a conspiracy this time. He was playing a clear card and deliberately placed the surname Jiang in his jurisdiction to force him to make money. Everyone knew that the man named Jiang was a poor official in Beijing. However, the warden Wan only gave him three days. He was obviously disgusted with him and embarrassed him, and wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of him. In this case, it is useless to say more. Chen Guanlou returned to the duty room, thought for a while, and decided to meet Jiang in person. Mr. Jiang is a skinny man with no fat on his cheeks, which makes his eyes particularly bulging and appear big. But his eyelids are wrinkled and he looks old. After reading the case file, I realized that this man was actually in his thirties, not even forty. His face looks like he is fifty years old. He is not tall, with a lower-than-average height, and probably not the average height of men in this era. Chen Guanlou is 180 cm tall, standing in front of the other party, a big man with a sense of oppression. He held a water and fire stick in his hand and gently knocked on the fence, "Master Jiang is new here, is there anything you are not used to?" Jiang Fengyu looked at Chen Guanlou in front of the prison door, and his reaction was a little slow, "Oh, you, you are the Chentou they are talking about. Thank you Chentou for visiting me, I am fine." Chen Guanlou pursed his lips and looked more serious, "They told Master Jiang the rules." "I know, no loud noises, no..." "Are you kidding me, Master Jiang?" Chen Guanlou stared at the other party with a bad look, "According to the rules of the Tianlao, you have to pay 600 taels to enter the prison." "Ah, this..." Jiang Fengyu was confused, and he said innocently, "I don't have it. I really don't have it." After that, he rummaged through his sleeve pockets, and there was not a single copper coin. "We don't care whether you have money or not, we just collect money. Only with money can you have food. The higher-ups haven't paid salaries or rice money for several months. If you don't pay, all the prisoners in Tianlao will have to starve. Lord Jiang, you don't want everyone to starve to death because of you, do you?" "But I really don't have money." "Then go borrow it." "You can't borrow it." Jiang Fengyu was innocent the whole time. Chen Guanlou finally understood that this man deserved to be penniless.