Chapter 1173 Public Opinion Position
Good things tend to spread thousands of miles, and the various gossips about the Tongsheng Wharf fire spread throughout Hangzhou city within one day. In addition to the Hangzhou government office in charge of local administration, the Zhejiang Chief Envoy and Inspector-General located in the city The three major yamen of the Envoy Division and the Du Commander Envoy Division also received the news one after another. However, these yamen, either out of caution or disdain, did not promptly clarify certain "rumors" from the outside world. Whether it was due to bureaucracy or other reasons, this relatively slow response undoubtedly contributed to the fermentation of the entire incident.
The day after the fire broke out, the Hangzhou government office received a joint complaint submitted by Lin De, a businessman from Ningbo Prefecture, and local injured merchants. Because there were so many direct victims of the fire, the team that submitted the complaint was extremely loud, with nearly a hundred people in total. And this team led more people to participate in the onlookers, forming a crowd of onlookers on three levels inside and outside the government office.
The purpose of Linde's appearance was not just to submit a symbolic complaint, but to make the matter as big as possible in the public opinion field. Therefore, he did not go to the gate of the Yamen and hand over the petition to settle the matter. Instead, he first delivered a rather inflammatory speech to the crowd of onlookers.
"Dear fellow villagers, I am Lin De from Ningbo Prefecture. Yesterday, there was a fire at Tongsheng Wharf outside the city. Most of the more than 20 people who were killed were crew members working for me. These people have no bad deeds in the past and should not In response to this bad news, although both the Hangzhou government office and the Qiantang county government sent people to the scene to investigate the case, they deliberately ignored the numerous evidence inside and outside the fire scene and avoided talking about the case! The loss of money is not a big deal, but the lives of more than 20 innocent people are a big deal. ! Today I submit this petition to sue the perpetrators who seek wealth and murder, the police officers who failed to handle the case, and the government officials who concealed the truth! Tell the world the truth and we will not let them die unjustly!”
Lin De pointed out every word that the Yamen was concealing the truth about the fire, but he deliberately did not explain the so-called truth because he knew that the relevant rumors had spread in and outside Hangzhou according to the predetermined plan. The more he doesn't make it clear, the more people will think that those rumors are true, and he is deliberately not mentioning the Haihan camp he is backing in order to gain more sympathy points first.
Linde's performance obviously had a good effect, and the people present immediately started talking, thinking that Linde's experience was really the result of suppression by unspeakable forces. If there really was a shady story as he said, then the more than 20 people who died in the fire would probably have little chance of redressing their injustices.
However, in this case, Linde still submitted the complaint despite knowing that the complaint would be fruitless. This behavior obviously has a tragic meaning, and he may be accused by the government of "spreading rumors to cause trouble". And he has made it very clear that this is not to recover financial losses, but to avenge the innocent people who died unexpectedly. This is very admirable.
The Hangzhou government office obviously would not accept such an unruly complaint, so not long after the government officials took the complaint in, they returned it to Lin De and asked him to leave immediately to avoid a large number of people crowding the door and obstructing the government office.
Being selected by the relevant departments of Haihan to perform this task, Linde's acting ability has undoubtedly been fully recognized and trusted. Even in the face of the yamen's scolding, Linde still did not give up and continued to perform an infectious play. Refined. He stepped up a few steps at a time, stood next to the originally condescending government official, and shouted to the onlookers: "Everyone has seen, this is the government's attitude towards victims! No one cares about the innocent people who were killed yesterday. Or, they just want to cover up the truth!”
Linde's accusation immediately received a response from the public, and several of his associates scattered among the onlookers responded one after another, and began to deliberately speak loudly and instructively to incite public sentiment.
Making trouble at the entrance of the Hangzhou government office must have exceeded the tolerance of the government. Seeing that the people were getting more and more agitated, the government office quickly took countermeasures. Several people came out and dragged Lin De in. The remaining The people below were responsible for dispersing the onlookers. Suddenly there was no leader, and the spectators quickly dispersed. However, the news that "the government office arrested the victim who submitted the complaint" spread throughout the city, making many people who had originally suspected the fire case People with government involvement confirmed their suspicions.
Of course, the government office would not be stupid enough to actually imprison Lin De, the suffering owner. They just wanted to use this opportunity to disperse the onlookers and at the same time take the opportunity to beat Lin De who did not know how to praise. Of course, arranging for Linde to go to the Yamen as a torturer to have sex was actually a link in this series of torture schemes. Moreover, there is Wang Yuan in the Yamen, so even if Linde is temporarily detained, he will not eat anything in prison. deficit.
In fact, Lin De successfully escaped after an hour. Neither the prefect nor the people below wanted to leave this hot potato in the yamen. They also know to some extent that the current direction of the outside world is very unfavorable to the government, and detaining the victim will only make the rumors from the outside world more unpleasant. Now, apart from giving Linde good words and hoping that he will not continue to fan the flames, there is no more effective countermeasure that can be taken for the time being.
Linde had been given the advice a long time ago, so he cooperated very well. Anyway, he was talking nonsense to others, and continued to spread conspiracy theories after leaving the yamen. The more than 20 merchants who also suffered considerable losses in the fire were almost all prominent figures in the Zhejiang business community, and many of them had official backgrounds. When these people believed Linde's statement, they The influence they had on public opinion in Hangzhou was far greater than that of Linde's one-man show.
That night, these merchants even jointly held a banquet in Hangzhou city. On the one hand, they washed away the bad luck for Linde and maintained the existing cooperative relationship between the two parties. On the other hand, it will once again create a platform for him to speak out, giving him the opportunity to make more "insider information" public. For these victims, they still need to make a living in Zhejiang, under the noses of the Ming Dynasty officials, so many people cannot stand up and speak out out of scruples, and they need an "outsider" like Linde to stand up for everyone. In addition, as long as the trade relationship with Haihan is maintained, it will not be too difficult to make back this loss in the future. If you do something like giving timely help now, you may be able to gain benefits when discussing business with Haihan in the future. More discounts are available.
While Linde was spitting at the banquet and accusing the government of inaction, Han Zhengshan, who was investigating the case, was examining some of the new evidence found today with great distress. The government officials responsible for cleaning up the fire scene found suspected murder weapons in the wreckage of the ship and the warehouse - two standard waist knives that were installed in large numbers by the Ming army. Although this piece of evidence is not enough to prove that the Ming army was involved in the murder and arson, and the method of leaving the murder weapon at the scene of the crime is quite suspected of framing the crime, it is impossible to turn a blind eye to such clear evidence, and it is impossible to turn a blind eye to it. This must be included in the case handling report.
If that was all, people searching for clues along the Qiantang River downstream reported that more than ten miles downstream from Tongsheng Pier, someone had witnessed a ship without a flag in the early morning after the incident. The Cangshan boat sailed away from the river bank, and there was more than one witness, all of whom were local farmers who got up early to work. This is undoubtedly a very important clue. If it belongs to the Ming Navy that patrols the river, it must raise the flag on the mast. And the timing of this intentional concealment of identity is too coincidental. Small warships like the Cangshan Ship are deployed at various guard posts along the coast from Qiantang River to Hangzhou Bay. If someone from the military was really involved in the crime, Han Zhengshan knew that it would be difficult to pursue the case with his own authority. He would have to turn the case over It was handed over to the Jinyiwei Yamen, which can investigate the world and the ground.
Han Zhengshan reported the progress of the case to Wang Yuan overnight and asked for instructions on whether to take the initiative to hand over the case. However, Wang Yuan asked him to first send personnel to the garrison camps along the river to request assistance in the investigation to find out where the sailboat without a flag was sent. .
This is undoubtedly a very difficult task for the police officers under the government. The possibility that the military will cooperate with the investigation on this matter is very low, even with official documents and warrants issued by the Hangzhou government.
Han Zhengshan could only boldly make a request: "Sir, could you please ask the Dusi Yamen to issue a notice of assistance in the investigation? This may make the investigation much easier."
Wang Yuan sighed and said: "Why don't I know this truth? It's just that this matter has obviously involved the local garrison. If you want the Dusi Yamen to help, you must inform the full case. What if the news leaks from them? I'm afraid The news has already spread before you leave Hangzhou. It’s better to try it yourself first. If it doesn’t work, try other methods.”
When Han Zhengshan saw his boss insisting, he had no choice but to comply. Wanting to investigate the military's patrol attendance information in the name of Liumen is indeed against the rules from a procedural point of view. If the military does not cooperate, Han Zhengshan will really not be able to even let go.
What happened next was exactly as he expected. All the police officers sent to various guard stations were turned away. In particular, those health offices that were already aware of the Tongsheng Wharf arson case were unwilling to cooperate with the Hangzhou government officials in investigating the matter. They bluntly asked the government officials who came to the door to bring official documents from the Zhejiang Capital Division before they could be investigated. It was not until two days later, when the government officials who had encountered difficulties everywhere returned to Hangzhou one after another that Han Zhengshan had to feed the information back to Wang Yuan again.
Of course, Wang Yuan was mentally prepared for such a situation. He asked Han Zhengshan to check the garrison at the guard station. He had no intention of gaining anything from this approach. After all, the mysterious Cangshan ship that appeared on the Qiantang River did not belong to any military camp nearby, but was obtained by the Haihan people from somewhere in Taizhou in the south. After the performance, they left Hangzhou Bay with the sailors who had ascended to heaven. , even if the vicinity of Hangzhou is turned upside down, the ghost ship will never be found.
As a result, the case was delayed for two days. It was the army that was not cooperating, and it was not the government office that was held responsible. In just a few days, the rumors about the Tongsheng Wharf fire in Hangzhou have changed from a "fire" to an "arson". The original casualties of more than 20 people have also become rumors that the government is trying to avoid taking responsibility. The number of casualties was deliberately reduced, but the actual number of casualties was over a hundred. Speculations about the identity and purpose of the perpetrator are becoming clearer, and all the evidence found during the investigation points to the Ming army.
There are even some rumors that sound very reliable, saying that the subordinates and family members of Yu Pingfeng, the Zhejiang commander who disappeared for no reason in Hangzhou last year, put the blame on Haihan. After long-term planning, they used The army carried out the murder and arson. It is also said that the person who took action was actually Ma Yue, the commander of the Haining Guards who died at sea in Hangzhou Bay last year. This person had been colluding with overseas Japanese pirates for a long time. Last year, he was only exposed by Haihan for his evil deeds. After his identity was exposed, he faked his death and escaped. This time This time, he colluded with Japanese pirates to raid the Haihan fleet outside Hangzhou to avenge his loss of office. It is also said that Liao Xun, a member of the Jinyiwei family who also disappeared in the middle of last year, is the mastermind behind the arson case. For this reason, dozens of experts from Jinyiweinan Town Fusi were mobilized in order to attack Haihan and prevent him from using trade means. Enter Zhejiang.
These rumors are all well-founded and seem reasonable at first glance. They are in line with several incidents that have occurred along the coast of Zhejiang in the past year. The perpetrator in the rumors does have a grudge against Haihan and has every motive to do this. Such a crazy behavior.
Of course, the most critical point is that the protagonists of these rumors have all disappeared from the public eye for a long time, and it is simply impossible to stand up again to prove their innocence. With so many scapegoats placed on their heads, they didn't even have the chance to speak out and defend themselves.
As the saying goes, it is easy to spread rumors but it is difficult to refute them. In just a few days, rumors spread everywhere in and around Hangzhou, and the government's credibility also plummeted. Moreover, rumors began to circulate in the market that the Sansi Yamen would punish merchants who had had financial dealings with Haihan, causing businessmen to panic. Some collaborators who had originally been on Linde's side also quickly drew a clear line with him. . Linde was also a little bit dumbfounded. The rumors would ferment to such an extent, which should be a situation that the leaders who planned the matter on Zhoushan Island did not expect. But now that it has reached this level, the next scene should come on stage.
On the seventh day after the Tongsheng Pier case, Linde once again went to the Hangzhou government office to lodge a high-profile complaint. This time there were many more people watching the excitement than before, but there were only a few people willing to stand up and support him. The complaint he submitted was once again unsurprisingly returned, and the Yamen's reply was, "The case has been transferred to the Criminal Prosecution Division for investigation." Apparently, the game of kicking the ball started.
(End of chapter)